Curiosity Killed the Koopa
by Vincent M. Pierce
Summary: The third installment of my fan fiction about Alexander and his continuing adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom.
1. Prologue

Author's Notes: I know this isn't like a normal prologue, but hey, I do things my way. Although the prologue has remained the same I've done a reboot on the story. I've started over from scratch and rewritten all the chapters because I didn't like the way the story was going. It's still the same basic plot but I'm approaching it from a different aspect.

There aboard the airship Bowser had lent Wendy and I for our honeymoon I was sunning myself on the deck in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and sunglasses thinking over the events of the last few months, it had been one hell of a ride to say the least. The Brothers unable to stop our acquisition of Kooparia, me handing Mario his ass on a platter in an all out confrontation, the fallout from the kidnapping of Clawdia all but wiping the NTA from the face of the Mushroom World, and now, now was the best part of all, I was married to Wendy Koopa-Magnus. Due to her royal lineage she kept her father's name, but still, Wendy Koopa-Magnus... that had a nice ring to it. Personally I think the funniest part of all was the day before the wedding.

The one thing that had remained unresolved at the close of our last fiasco of an adventure was finding a way to siphon the Nexus Energy out of my so I didn't explode. Ludwig had spent all night working on the problem trying to find a solution when my father had suggested using one of the spare power taps from the Nexus Machine we used during the Stinit War and hooking it up to an energy buffer to absorb all the excess energy. I can still remember Ludwig's head hitting the console he was working at when he realized such a simple solution had been staring him in the face the entire time, made me wish I had had a camera. The other thing I had found rather interesting were the Koopa wedding vows, not exactly what you might think them to be.

'I, Alexander Franklin Magnus, take you, Princess Wendy Koopa, to be my lawfully wedded wife. With utmost love and sincerity I receive you into my life that together we no longer exist as two, but become as one. With the loyalty I once served and continue to serve the House of Koopa, so I will be to you a loving and faithful husband. Always will I love you and act as your faithful protector ever as his sovereign majesty does over his domain. I promise you my deepest love, my fullest devotion, my tenderest care. I promise that I will lead us into a life of unity, trust, and everlasting love. Ever honoring my place by your side through word, action, and deed, and so throughout life, no matter what may lie ahead of us, I pledge to you my life as a loving and faithful husband.'

The wedding of the only princess of the House of Koopa was probably the largest event of the decade, hell probably the century for that matter. People from all over the Mushroom World showed up for the ceremony, including Peach and The Brothers to my surprise. An invitation had been sent to them more as a formality than anything else, no one really expected them to show up, although I think even Bowser was surprised by the fact that possibly for the first time in her life Wendy was actually cordial to Peach. Personally I think it was more a form of subtle gloating. Ever since we had become engaged Wendy had been lording it over Peach that she was getting married first, though she normally got pissed and stormed off when Peach was polite to her rather than becoming jealous the way she was hoping.

I'm just glad for that for once everyone set aside their differences and observed the political neutrality of the wedding, finally a large event was held without anyone getting attacked, kidnapped, molested, detonated, or otherwise bothered, although Wario did get drunk and pass out in the lobby. There were of course the veiled, or outright threats from her brothers about what indescribable fate would befall me if I ever hurt Wendy which I fully expected, but for me the icing on the cake to make this the best day of my life was the announcement Bowser made at the reception. I can still remember him standing and calling for the attention of those in attendance.

"For many years now Alexander has acted as my faithful servant, carrying out my will as though it were his own. He has been steadfast, dependable, capable, and loyal, but today the House of Koopa welcomes one more into the fold. Let it be known that from this day forth, now and forever more that Alexander Franklin Magnus is Koopa."

I wasn't just a servant, or a human working for Bowser anymore it seems my probation was over, I was Koopa now every bit as much as Wendy, Roy, Ludwig, or any of the others in the eyes of Bowser, man life was good. What really hit home for me was just that, home, I wasn't just drifting from place to place like I once did on Earth, I was accepted, I belonged here now. Things on other fronts were going well too, six months had passed since we had conquered Kooparia in which time almost three hundred citizens from the Dark lands had moved there turning the town into a settlement that threatened to develop into a city soon if they continued expanding at the rate they were. Bowser had also set up a number of check points along the border between the Dark Lands and Kooparia charging a border crossing fee as I suggested at one point causing further economic growth for our people. The Dark Lands were on the move, Bowser's power was growing by the day, personally I foresaw the day Peach and The Brothers bent a knee to Emperor Bowser Koopa, ruler of the Mushroom Empire.

"Hey baby, whatcha doing?" Wendy asked, straddling me to sit on my lap.

"Nuttin' honey." I said, pulling her close to me.

We still hadn't gotten past the whole newly wed phase so there was still a lot of snuggling and cuddling to take care of. Today was the last day of the week long honeymoon we had planned taking an airship cruise around Mushroom World, for the first five days we only really did two things and all I'll say is one of them was eating.

"You were my first you know." Wendy said.

"Are you serious?" I asked, looking over at her, "You mean that first night in my room was the first time you ever..."

"Mmm-hmm." she responded.

"How was it?" I asked.

"Everything I expected it to be." she said.

Well that added several notches to my ego meter, bed a virgin and blow her mind. Yeah who da man, I'm da man. I was just laying there enjoying doing absolutely nothing for once when Wendy seemed to suddenly be startled by something bringing me out of my laziness onto my elbows to see what all the excitement was.

"Alex did you see that?" she said.

"Uh no, I had my eyes closed what is it?" I asked.

"I'm not sure it fell out of the sky, a meteorite I think?" she said, running to the far railing, "Ooooh, look look look, it landed over there! Let's go see what it is!"

I followed after her shortly looking over the railing of the airship and sure enough there was an impact crater on a small uninhabited island below us. Why not, it wasn't as if we had anything else to do, so walking over to the helm controls I switched off the auto pilot carefully maneuvering the ship into a slow decent vector towards the island, good thing Iggy had given me a crash course in airship piloting before the honeymoon. I was still a little a bit green behind the wheel when it came to landing and taking off but I managed to touch down without incident a few hundred yards from the impact crater. Wendy was out of the ship before me excited to see what had landed.

I casually stepped off the ship looking around me, the island itself couldn't have been more than a mile or so in length, it was covered mostly my ankle high grass with the occasional palm tree, aside from the beach surrounding us that was about it. There was a gentle breeze blowing that seemed to keep the temperature just right, it was actually kinda nice here I thought as I followed after Wendy. When we arrived at the impact site the crater was fairly small, only about one hundred feet in diameter, roughly ten feet deep with the surrounding area blown outward away from what at a glance looked like a small box, there's something you don't see every day.

Wendy quickly slid down the side of the crater, fascinated by the box below, I followed behind her rather curious myself. The box in terms of size wasn't much larger than a Rubix Cube, though it was the markings covering it that I found to be so interesting. The box itself looked like it was made out of a simple type of wood, which in itself raised my curiosity, wood surviving atmospheric re-entry? That aside I studied the symbols that appeared to be made out of a type of milky blue material I couldn't identify, arranged in a series of circles, dots, and intersecting slashes, what an odd little thing it was. It's a good thing that I had quick reflexes though, Wendy started to reach out to grab it forcing me to grab her wrist in order to stop her.

"I wouldn't do that if you value the scales on you hand," I said, spitting on the cube causing the saliva to evaporate with a hiss on contact, "that thing just went went through atmospheric re-entry, has to be several hundred degrees."

We both stood up again looking down, then I got an idea on how to cool it off considering my curiosity was probably as bad as Wendy's by now. I took the shell off her back, having left mine on the airship, to use as a sort of bucket, I carefully made my way out of the crater to gather some ocean water, returning moments later to dump it out turning the surrounding area into a steam bath for several second before all the water had finally evaporated. After replacing Wendy's shell I stooped down again carefully reaching for the box, at first I only touched it with my finger for a split second to test the temperature, when my finger returned with all the skin intact I slowly got a better grip on it. It was still warm to the touch though it was no longer hot enough to peel the skin, or scales, off your hand.

"Go on baby open it, I want to see what's inside." Wendy said.

Opening our little mystery box was turning out to be a mystery in itself as I couldn't see any discernible break in the design that might indicate where the lid was, without being able to tell if I was even holding it right I began running my hands over it, applying pressure along the corners to see if I could coax some sort of movement out of it. After a few moments I was beginning to wonder if the box could be opened when I felt the side against my left hand shift ever so slightly, I stopped immediately moving my hand so I could look closer, sure enough the side of the box had separated from the body a scant few millimeters revealing the top. With the top revealed I quickly adjusted my grip turning it upright, using my thumbnail I wedged it under the lid managing to finally force our little mystery open. For a brief second a brilliant flash of blue light shot out into the air causing me to instinctively shield my eyes, once it had disappeared I looked down into the box, there didn't seem to be anything inside except for some odd markings.

"Well that sucked," Wendy said, "all that for nothing, just an empty box."

Perhaps, I thought to myself... The more I looked at the markings on the inside the more it started to bother me what had just happened, unlike the outside that appeared to be a pattern more than anything else the marking on the inside were neatly arranged with a number of them repeating in several places, like a language. Looking up into the sky I had this unsettling feeling there there had been something in the box... until I opened it...


	2. Chapter I

Kooparia, once known as Lilliona, a town that Alexander had helped Bowser to conquer. During negotiations they had forced the Mushroom Kingdom to formally recognize their claim to the land in return for the cure to a mutated strain of Typhoid that was killing Princess Peach. The little known fact regarding the entire situation is that it was Alexander himself who had infected the Princess during a battle between the forces of the Dark Lands and the Mushroom Kingdom, thus giving the King of the Koopas the leverage needed to secure their victory against any future retaliations on the part of the Mushroom Kingdom. Once their claim was secure the next matter to be broached was who would administer the newly acquired land, some had suggested allowing Alexander to act as mayor since he lead the campaign to conquer Lilliona, but that idea was quickly quashed by Bowser as he wanted to keep him close to home. The job had been handed off to one of the local politicians but Alexander was given the responsibility of overseeing the mayor and dealing with any situations in Kooparia that might be routed back towards the castle. In truth he was acting as a stop gap to prevent Bowser from being bogged down with the day to day administration of local affairs, this often meant that the 'black terror', as the Mushroom People had come to call him because of his outfit, was often saddled with the various problems that Kooparia would run into during their expansion efforts.

When the town had first been conquered by the Dark Lands it had been little more than a tiny agricultural hamlet with a small port near the southern end of the continent, but under the rule of Mayor Kloreg Vast, overseen by Lord Magnus, it was quickly becoming an integral part of the Dark Lands. The greatest boon to Bowser and his people was that unlike the volcanic wastelands that comprised their kingdom Kooparia was located in fertile lands that were once part of the Mushroom Kingdom. This meant they could begin to grow some of their own food, something that had been impossible before. Approaching Kooparia on foot from the north Alexander was in high spirits as he watched Clawdia scampering through the grassy fields chasing various insects and butterflies. Now almost six and a half the third generation koopa princess was quite the bundle of energy, if not for Alexander's physically demanding career having built his endurance to equal that of an olypmic level athlete, he'd likely be unable to keep up with her. Through chasing insects around Clawdia ran up to her father wrapping herself around his right leg with a giggle, an additional fifty-five pounds, counting her shell which weighed five pounds, suddenly attached to his leg Alexander found walking to be somewhat difficult. Looking down at her with his hands on his hips he made an exaggeratedly playful expression of frustration, "And how am I suppose to walk with you attached to my leg young lady?"

"Your not," Clawdia said.

"Well that's going to make it a little hard to get to Kooparia now isn't it?" Alexander asked.

"Where'd you grow up daddy?" Clawdia asked looking up at him. That was a rather awkward question for Alexander as his childhood wasn't something he'd ever talked with his daughter about, nor was it a subject he was really fond of remembering. "On Earth," Alexander said.

"I know that silly, where?" Clawdia asked.

"In a place called New York," Alexander said.

"Can you remember your mommy?" Clawdia asked.

"No, my mommy died a long time before I was ever born," Alexander said. That explanation got a rather peculiar look from Clawdia as she only knew the basics such as it took a mommy and a daddy to make a baby. Rather amused Alexander sat down on the grass placing Clawdia on his lap, "It's hard to explain kiddo, see I wasn't born like normal people, with a mommy and a daddy," Alexander said. Clawdia scratched her head a little as if trying to understand such a strange idea, "How can you be born without a mommy, I mean you gotta have a mommy before you're born," Clawdia said.

"Weeeell, not always, sometimes technology can help someone be born without a mommy like me, see I'm a..." Alexander paused for a moment almost choking the next word out, "clone."

"What's a clone?" Clawdia asked.

"I'm a copy," Alexander said.

"Copy of what?" Clawdia asked.

"Not what baby girl, who. See a long time ago Grandpa Mortimer had another son, his name was Alexander too, but then he had an accident and died. Grandma Donna had passed away a long time ago too so grandpa was really lonely. He was so lonely in fact that he used special technology to make a copy of his first son Alexander, that copy was me," Alexander said.

"What did the other guy look like?" Clawdia asked.

"He looked exactly like me, only he had blond hair instead of white, see when grandpa copied the first Alexander he didn't do it quite right. We have white hair because we really have no hair color at all," Alexander said.

"Was grandpa a good daddy?" Clawdia asked.

"I don't know, he didn't raise me," Alexander said.

"Why not?" Clawdia asked.

"Because on Earth it's extremely illegal to copy a human. Grandpa wanted to raise me but he had to give me to an orphanage so that bad people wouldn't find out and take me away," Alexander said.

"Then who raised you?" Clawdia asked.

"That would be Attila the Nun," Alexander grumbled. He was about to set Clawdia down when she latched her arms around his chest in a hug, "Well you're a good daddy, I love you," Clawdia said. Alexander hugged her back smiling warmly, "You know I love you munchkin." No matter what kind of honors, medals, or other rewards he might have received from Bowser for his service, hearing Clawdia say he was a good father and that she loved him made everything else seem almost meaningless. Hearing his daughter tell him that he was a good father actually made Alexander's chest swell up as he began to feel ten foot tall so instead of setting Clawdia down on the ground he picked her up and placed her on his hip as he walked despite the fact Wendy was trying to break her of the habit. In the distance Alexander could see the once small hamlet of Kooparia, it was a hive of construction with wooden building frames rising high into the air as workers clung to them dutifully carrying out their tasks. The buildings weren't the only thing being expanded in Kooparia, during the negotiations Bowser had secured four hundred acres of land surrounding the town for agricultural use and damn near every inch of free space was being used for just that. Wheat, oats, grain, barley, apples, oranges, pears, there was even a vineyard with very fertile soil thanks to the dairy farm next door.

It had been too late in the growing season to harvest a crop last year, but this year was looking very good, not only had Bowser approved an expensive plan to use a trio of airships to spray the farmland with nitrogen to enrich the soil even further, there was an actual waiting list for people wanting to move here. Not only because of the opportunities afforded them, but there was also a standing offer to pay anyone, or family, who moved to Kooparia two-hundred and fifty gold coins. If everything continued to go according to plan along with the border tariffs being charged to merchants moving from Rogueport to Toad Town this little venture would pay off in spades. All of the various farms and ranches surrounding the town were being dutifully tended too and it appeared Mayor Vast was intelligent enough in his planning to place all the farms involving livestock that produced constant manure at the outer edges of the border to keep them, and their smell, away from the town. Of the original buildings that once stood in Lilliona the well in the middle of town was about the only thing left standing, the people weren't the only thing razed to make way for Bowser's newest acquisition, everything else, the wood huts and other rural buildings had been replaced with newer model wood and plaster structures, cheap but reliable if properly maintained. The main road leading through town was now big enough to for a dozen people to walk shoulder to shoulder and lead clear to the port south of town which already had three ships bearing the flag of Bowser anchored in the water.

On either side of the street most of the buildings lining the main road were various stores for things such as groceries, clothes or shells depending on your species, hardware, Alexander could even hear a saw mill in the background working full tilt to keep up with the demand of the construction workers, all the while people moved in throngs through the busy street. There must have been at least a hundred people of all ages and species coming and going as Alexander walked down the street with Clawdia on his hip, although no one ran into them, in fact when seen most people gave them their space out of respect. Mayor Vast was easy to spot as he was the only Mouser living in Kooparia, standing by the well in the center of town the large rotund rodent was speaking with a Goomba and Turtle who was holding a clipboard as they pointed to one of the buildings under construction. Looking in that direction Alexander saw a large three story building frame that appeared to have suffered considerable damage to the third floor, most of the frame facing the main street was missing with numerous boards that looked as though they had been burnt. "What the hell happened there?" Alexander asked walking up behind Vast. The Mouser who was as tall as Alexander and twice as heavy turned around looking at him in surprise as he adjusted his sunglasses, "Lord Magnus? Oh uh, I didn't know you were coming," Vast said.

"I'm not here in an official capacity, just wanted to get out of the castle for a while, like I was saying though, what happened to that building over there," Alexander said pointing to the damaged frame.

"Lightning strike during last night's storm," Vast said.

"Anyone hurt?" Alexander asked.

"No, it was after everyone had already went home for the day," Vast said.

"While I'm here how's the port coming, Bowser's been itching to have it finished. That port alone was worth razing this place, now trade ships sailing from the south will be able to dock here and transport over land instead of sailing all the way to the port north of Bowseria," Alexander said.

The Goomba that Vast had been speaking with took a step forward and bowed, "Foreman Galidar at your service Lord Magnus. The port is coming along perfectly, in fact the work has not only passed all safety checks, we're ahead of schedule and under budget. We've expanded the port's capacity from three ships to nine, we're putting the finishing touches on the docks and the heavy lifting cranes should be operational within three days. After that we're good to go," Galidar said.

"Good, Bowser will be pleased," Alexander said, "how's the harvest looking?" The turtle he already knew as agricultural minister Ciath Truyk, the minister also bowed before speaking, "If things continue as they are now the harvest will be quite bountiful, according to my projections it will reduce our dependency on imports by as much as four percent," Truyk said.

"Good, that's four percent King Koopa will be able to invest in other projects. Any trouble from the fungus brigade?" Alexander asked.

"No, we've not so much as seen a single mushroom coming this way," Vast said.

"Well it seems the fungus have learned a lesson ever since I handed that dumb fuck Mario his ass on a platter. Right, I'll be back for my official visit in three days time," Alexander said. That was something he still liked to brag about, and the no one outside the royal family in Koopa Castle knew that he'd lost the use of the abilities that allowed him to defeat Mario that one time, so for all intents and purposes he was still one of the meanest mother fuckers in the Mushroom Kingdom. With Clawdia still on his hip Alexander continued on through the town with no real destination in mind, the entire point of coming here was to just get out of the castle for a while, he spent so much time there as it was he was starting to get castle fever. He came to a stop setting Clawdia down on the ground deciding to kick back and relax under a tree near the port, the smell of the sea breeze combined with the sound of the ocean was just what he needed. Things were quieting down around the castle especially with Clawdia starting school, she was attending an elementary school in Bowseria designed for the elite within Koopa society, unless you were either royalty, nobility, or filthy stinking rich the school wouldn't even talk to you. Of course when Lord Magnus showed up with his wife and daughter they practically rolled out the red carpet for them.

It seemed that Clawdia took after her father one aspect though, she was a lot smarter than people thought she was, even at the tender age of six she knew her colors, how to mix them, how to count as high as fifty, basic addition and subtraction, and she could read at a fourth grade level. It was agreed by the school board to start Clawdia out in the second grade and see how she handled herself there. This was largely due to Alexander and her uncle Ludwig, both who knew that rather than waiting until they were six to begin teaching a child that in the first five years of life they learned almost as fast as a person was capable of talking. Much to Wendy's chagrin Clawdia's first word was 'shit' which she learned to say at seven months and had no problem repeating at highly inappropriate times. The one thing that concerned Alexander though was that his little girl was a bit too friendly, too friendly in the fact that on more than one occasion when she had accompanied her parents to various functions involving negotiations between the Dark Lands and the Mushroom Kingdom she would readily socialize with Mushroom children. Both he and Wendy had already agreed they would have to teach her how to be a proper Koopa princess and why Alexander was known as the 'Black Terror' among the Mushroom people. For now he was content to just take it easy under the tree and watch Clawdia tearing up and down the beach with the seemingly endless supply of energy she had.

Time passed slowly for Alexander which he liked, he was half expecting someone to come running up and tell him there was some sort of emergency or dire situation that required his immediate attention, but no one ever did. Most of the time he watched Clawdia playing on the beach so carefree, in a way he envied her, she was having the childhood he never could. His childhood was filled with work, study, church, and having it drilled into his head that the fact he was born was a sin and if he ever wanted redemption he'd have to spend his entire life living like a monk in a monastery. That was probably what pushed him away from organized religion in the first place when he got older, although killing a bunch of people and helping Bowser take over the Mushroom Kingdom probably wasn't earning him any points with the big man upstairs anyway, not that he really cared. He had everything he ever could have wanted out of life right here, a loving wife, a wonderful daughter, a good paying job with a future, for the first time in his life he was actually content. The only thing that was really nagging at him was his inability to use magic anymore, unlike when he had his nexus powers having to learn magic the traditional way was a real pain in the ass. It was a slow tedious process compared to his former powers when he was able to do just about anything he wanted having only to think about it first.

He could have learned Koopa Magic although he had decided to take the harder route and try to learn human magic. The reason this idea was so hard was because of the fact human magic within Mushroom World was almost non-existent, mostly due to a human population that was almost non-existent Along with it. Humans were not a species native to Mushroom World and therefore they only numbered about two hundred at most and few if any that were second generation or further were pure blooded anymore, as a result human magic had never been studied or well developed. People like Princess Toadstool didn't use human magic either, they used a form of bastardized Mushroom magic. The only thing Alexander had to go one were the teachings of Wendy, who had shown him the basics that were part of any school of magic, and a single book written by the human some two-hundred years ago when he tried to develop the school as well, thus far all Alexander knew was that human magic seemed to be based around high yield energy projection and biological manipulation. The development of human magic not only offered Alexander the chance to really make his mark on history by being the first to fully utilize these abilities if he was successful, it would also give Bowser a whole new bag of tricks to use against Mario and those other nitwits when they moved to take the rest of the kingdom. Although a sentient being could learn any school of magic they wanted, such as a Mushroom citizen learning Koopa magic and vice versa, biology seemed to dictate which of these school you would be able to best utilize.

"Mommy mommy mommy mommy!" Clawdia said as she ran past Alexander at full speed. There was a collision between two bodies followed by an audible 'omph', when Alexander leaned over looking around the tree he saw that Wendy had been coming up behind him only to be intercepted and tackled by Clawdia. She was sitting on the ground laughing a little and holding her daughter as she ruffled her hair. "What's up babe?" Alexander asked as he stood, walking over to Wendy he held his hand out to help her up. She took the hand up setting Clawdia down on the ground exchanging a quick kiss with her husband, "Nothing, just came by to let you know dad called a meeting of the general staff for this afternoon."

"Noted, anything else?" Alexander asked.

"No, there's not much going on, hasn't been much going on lately for that matter. It's strange, dad normally has something brewing, if nothing else to make those plumber's lives miserable for being such a thorn in his side... assholes" Wendy said.

"Hey, I'm not complaining the peace and quiet's been nice. Although I gotta admit it is getting kinda slow, maybe we outta head over to the Kingdom and blow something up just for the hell of it," Alexander said.

"Looks like someone already did," Wendy said looking up at the building frame that had been struck by lightning, "practicing your energy projection again?"

"Oh ha ha Mrs. Smart ass, that was lightning from last night's storm, not me," Alexander said.

"Speaking of blowing things up we should head over to the Kingdom, we've been talking about teaching Clawdia how to be a proper princess so get a move on," Wendy said. Alexander stood the for a moment thinking about the situation, then shrugged a little, "The question is where, after all we do tend to cause a panic where ever we go in the Kingdom and that usually brings those two morons running."

"Lake Mushroom, it's popular this time of year and far enough out of the way we could pull off a quick hit and run without any trouble," Wendy said.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Alexander said.

Now that they had figured out exactly where to go and what to do Alexander, Wendy, and Clawdia all set out through town in the direction of the nearest warp pipe. Because of Kooparia's remote location there actually weren't any warp pipes in or near the town itself, the closest one was the one Alexander and Clawdia had come through when they had first arrived which was over ten miles north of town. "Tell me something Wendy, all those pipes in the castle's pipe room, how'd they get there?" Alexander asked.

"Huh, uh, I don't know, they were there when the castle was built," Wendy said.

"And no one's ever tried to use any of them to get into the castle, or to seal them to stop you guys from invading the Kingdom?" Alexander asked.

"Maybe if the pipes had fixed exits but they don't, the appear in the same area but that's it," Wendy said.

"What about say, filling one end with cement?" Alexander asked.

"Won't work, uuuh, I can't remember exactly what Ludwig said, but it was something about the exit force being strong enough to remove any obstructions from the pipe. The best you can do it try to booby trap the area around the exit, that's why all pipes with fixed exits leading into the Dark Lands from outside have such heavy guard around them. Why all the interest in the pipe room all of a sudden?" Wendy asked.

"General plotting, tell me, do the castles in the other kingdoms have pipe rooms?" Alexander asked.

"Nope, we're the only one. It's one of our tactical advantages," Wendy said.

Clawdia had been strangely quite during the course of their little exchange which made Alexander curious, glancing down he noticed that she was intently listening to everything they said, she was an observant little critter too. Their eyes met and both father and daughter stared at one another for a moment before Alexander began to smirk and Clawdia slowly scrunched her eyebrows as if trying to figure out what he was up to. Without warning he took off running through the field saying, "Can't catch me, can't catch me, can't catch me!" causing Clawdia to take off after him. "I swear it's like raising two children sometimes," Wendy said watching the two of them running around. The one thing no one could ever question was the fact that Alexander loved Clawdia, she was the only one he ever acted so goofy around, yet at the same time he was a strict father that didn't let her puppy dog eye treatment allow her to get away with things. He was also very active in her life when he wasn't out on some mission for Bowser, Wendy could remember how adamant he was about not using a television as a baby sitter for their daughter. The two of them rarely ever watched television as it was and she could still clearly remember his opinion on the subject.

"Unlike a lot of parents in modern Earth society I'm not going to plop my kid down in front of a TV all day with a bag of chips until they become some gun wielding psychotic fat-ass, then stand around scratching my head 'd-uh, I dun know where ma kid learned ta do dat'. Maybe if parents tried being parents for five minutes Earth wouldn't be so fucked up."

Even though Clawdia had been an accident for the both of them Wendy considered her one of the best accidents that had ever happened in their lives and she had no regrets about having her. The other thing Wendy had noticed was that Alexander was a lot smarter than most people thought he was... when he shut up for five minutes. That alone was his biggest problem, running his mouth ninety miles before thinking about what he'd said, just last week when he was running off at the mouth her father had slapped him in the back of the head hard enough to bounce it off the table he was sitting at. He was loud, crass, rude, crude, opinionated, and quite ruthless when he put his mind to it, for a human he was a surprisingly good Koopa. Alexander and Clawdia continued to play chase for a while before they walked back over to Wendy out of breath, the chase ended after he pretended to fall down letting Clawdia catch him. As he often did Alexander picked Clawdia up letting her ride on his shoulders. She also took the opportunity to pull his hair as she was fond of doing.

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(The image is grainy because I had to reduce the size, view the original here . )

"What are we gonna do at Lake Mushroom momma? We gonna go swimming?" Clawdia asked from where she sat on her father's shoulders. "Not quite sweetheart, it's time for you to learn what it means to be a proper Koopa princess," Wendy said.

"Sounds like school," Clawdia said sticking her tongue out at Wendy. Alexander was just glad Clawdia was using her tongue this time instead of her teeth, last month she went to the doctor for her immunization shots every kid gets at her age. After the doctor stuck the needle into Clawdia's arm she had nearly wailed like a banshee and laid into his arm with her teeth, Alexander knew first hand that Clawdia, like her mother, had a mouth full of steak knives. The doctor in question ended up get over one-hundred stitches along with Alexander having to pay the medical bill for that little fiasco. Wendy had actually come up with a good way to avoid another hospital bill for another doctor, the next time she had to get a shot her grandfather Mortimer had been the one to do it. While he wasn't a medical doctor, as a biologist he did know how to draw blood and give injections so he knew his way around needles, as he was one of Clawdia's two beloved grandfathers she had settled for screaming without biting. Strolling through the long section of land leading from the Dark Lands to Kooparia chatting and playing cheerfully they passed the security checkpoints set up on both sides of the border by both kingdoms, Alexander took the time to wave to the guards on their side while flipping off the Mushroom Guards.

The warp pipe the three of them were headed for had just come into view in the distance when a turtle guard appeared from the pipe waving to Alexander. He came running up to them in a rush as they continued to walk leaning on his spear to catch his breath when he stopped. "For your sake this had better not be some dire emergency, I'm trying to relax here," Alexander said. The guard shook his head a little still huffing and puffing, "Not... an emergency, but you're needed back at the castle," the guard said.

"For what reason?" Alexander asked.

"Alivar Tad, he's asking to see you," the guard said.

"Alivar Tad?" Wendy said.

"Who is that?" Alexander asked looking to Wendy.

"Only the most popular television personality in Mushroom World, he hosts the game show Million Coin Mayhem and does Interview Tonight specials," Wendy said.

"Never heard of him," Alexander said. In response the turtle guard looked at him like he had just fallen out of the sky. "What? I don't watch TV," Alexander said. The last comment was also accurate, Alexander didn't watch television though it was mostly because his job and family life kept him so busy he didn't have the time to sit around channel surfing, then there was also the fact he didn't much care for television. In the years he had been here in Mushroom World he had watched a total of three half-hour programs and only because Wendy happened to be watching them in their room at the time.

"What's he want?" Wendy asked.

"I think he wants to do an Interview Tonight special on Lord Magnus," the guard said.

"Pass, I don't do interviews," Alexander said.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Wendy asked looking over at him.

"I married you didn't I?" Alexander retorted.

"No asshole, I mean Interview Tonight is the highest rated show on television, everyone's done it. Mario, Wario, dad, me, those idiot brothers of mine, we've all been on the show," Wendy said.

"Really?" Alexander said.

"Yeah really, anyone who's anyone gets an Interview Tonight special," Wendy said.

Alexander thought about the situation for a minute, this was an interesting turn of events to say the least, an interview with some television personality about himself, definitely not his normal venue. "What do they talk about on Interview Tonight?" Alexander asked the guard.

"Well uh, you. Where you were born, where you grew up, your family, how you ended up where you are today, stuff like that," the guard said.

"What species is this Alivar Tad?" Alexander asked.

"Mushroom," the guard said.

"And they let him in the castle?" Alexander asked.

"Tad isn't into politics, he's an entertainer, television host, and popular world wide. People from all four of the major powers in Mushroom World have been on his game shows and Interview Tonight specials," Wendy said.

"Right, so don't be a complete dick towards him," Alexander said.

"Try to be civil," Wendy said, "his specials are great for image, everybody will know about you after doing the show."

"Okay, looks like the trip to Lake Mushroom's getting put on hold," Alex said, then looked to the turtle guard, "return to the castle and tell Mr. Tad I'll be arriving shortly."


	3. Chapter II

Alexander, Wendy, and Clawdia returned to a short time after the turtle guard had told them of this Alivar individual who had shown up. Rather than immediately going to one of the waiting rooms Alexander had taken some time to freshen up, he always preferred to put his best foot forward when meeting new people although this would be somewhat of a novel experience, meeting a Mushroom Kingdom citizen he wasn't trying to kick the shit out of. As he stood in front of a mirror in his room his mind was actually more concerned with the meeting that Bowser had scheduled for later that day, assembling the general staff usually meant something was brewing and that the king of the Dark Lands was up to something, at least Alexander hoped he was. Though the lull in activity had offered a much needed respite things were starting to get a little too slow and he was itching for some action. Once he had combed his hair, applied some deodorant, and made sure he looked his best Alexander walked out of the room leaving Wendy to her channel surfing with Clawdia while he tended to this matter. The castle was it's usual hive of activity with people moving in almost every possible direction as he made his way into the lower levels of the castle from the private residential wing reserved for the royal family. After inquiring with a few members of the palace staff he learned that Alivar Tad was waiting for him in the antechamber just outside the throne room.

Alexander found it interesting the amount of activity that always semeed to be taking place in the castle, he couldn't even begin to imagine the logistical nightmare that information must have undergone before reports actually reached Bowser. Some of the servants and other individuals were moving at almost break neck paces as they passed him in the hall, obviously in a hurry to reach whatever destination was so important. He stopped for a moment upon entering the throne room from the left rear hall, what caught his attention was the fact that Ludwig was sitting on the throne instead of Bowser, but as he was discussing something with a magi-koopa adviser while no one seemed concerned by this, he wrote it off as training the royal heir to the kingdom and continued on his way. Crossing the large square room he came to a door leading to the small antechamber, upon opening it he found that there were in fact four Mushroom People rather than one sitting in chairs awaiting his arrival, his attention was immediately drawn to the only one who didn't jump upon seeing him. The older looking mushroom had a gently lined face with crows feet around his eyes, he was dressed in normal attire one would see for a mushroom person though the material appeared to be quite expensive, a combination of satin and silk with a felt hat. He was taller than average and really threw Alexander off by smiling at him, he approached extending a hand, "Lord Magnus, thank you for agreeing to see me, Alivar Tad at your service."

"Yeah, so what's all this about?" Alexander asked shaking his hand.

"An interview my friend, you've proven to be a real up and comer in the Mushroom World, you're a hot topic and I want the exclusive," Alivar said pointing a finger at him. This Alivar character was strange indeed, he didn't appear to be intimidated by Alexander in the least which was more than could be said for the three others. All it took was a single scowl from the terror of the Mushroom Kingdom to cause a middle aged mushroom woman behind him to shrink away and try to hide behind her clipboard.

"Are you serious? I'm probably one of the most hated people outside of the Dark Lands, why would anyone want to watch an interview with me?" Alexander asked.

"Curiosity my boy, people are curious about high profile figures. I interviewed your boss King Koopa about ten years ago, ninety-three percent of Mushroom World tuned in for that broadcast. You may not be popular but you're well known and people want to know about you," Alivar said. Closing the door behind him Alexander leaned against the door frame looking down at the mushroom who continued to smile broadly at him with his arms held behind his back. He couldn't deny the idea was actually starting to appeal to him, it was one thing to watch television, but another matter altogether to be on it. "How much are we talking here?" Alexander asked.

"Money? Twenty-five thousand koopa coins, how's that strike you?" Alivar asked.

That was a considerable sum of money compared to what Alexander normally made, Bowser paid him five hundred coins a week which actually wasn't much considering Wendy spent about seven hundred a week. Twenty-five thousand was a lot of money to him, a year's worth of pay plus one-thousand, but instead of immediately jumping at the offer he kept his cool. Alivar had tipped his hand when he mentioned how many people tuned in to watch the interview with Bowser, if Interview Tonight was so popular then he could likely drive the price up, "Twenty-five thousand for an interview with me, that's it?" Alexander asked. Alivar smirked a little and held his hand up, "Fair enough, thirty-five."

"Forty, and I won't take a koopa coin less," Alexander said.

Once again Alivar regarded Alexander in silence, rubbing his chin with one hand he seemed to be mulling the proposition over in his mind before another broad smile broke out across his face, "Deal, I'll make twice that just in advertising. Okay, now we need to discuss when the interview will take place. We'll need to go over a few pre-show questions, set up a time for the show, things like that. When will you be free?" Alivar asked.

"I don't know, I've got some business I need to tend to later today which may lead to further delays, I won't know until I go over the details. If you leave your contact information with King Koopa's staff I'll get back to you," Alexander said.

"Fair enough, we still have time. I haven't released anything to the media yet about the upcoming show so we can keep things up in the air for a while if we need to," Alivar said.

"Anything else?" Alexander asked.

"Not right now, we'll leave our contact information on the way out," Alivar said.

Alexander nodded, then sneered at the mushroom woman again making her hide behind her clipboard for a second time before he left the antechamber. On his way out he noticed Ludwig and the adviser standing there looking at him, it made him pause for a moment until he was motioned over, "Father has called the meeting of the general staff earlier than originally anticipated, there have been further developments that have facilitated the necessity for expediency," Ludwig said.

"What developments?" Alexander asked.

"Of that I am currently unaware, he has yet to elaborate upon that which has occurred," Ludwig said.

This peaked Alexander's curiosity, if the meeting had been called early then it meant that there were events underway that would likely result in some sort action from Bowser. The two of them walked through the halls of the castle quietly as several other members of the royal house joined them. Roy, Lemmy, Iggy, and other military officials were all heading to the war room where Bowser and the rest of the family were already waiting. They were gathered around a large round wooden table with a Mushroom World map upon which several figures were placed. Alexander approached, standing next to Wendy, and noticed the figures were toy ships bearing flag of the Dark Lands, the fact that two of them were overturned wasn't a good sign. Once everybody was inside the door was secured as Bowser took a deep breath.

"Thank you for assembling so quickly, as many of you may or may not be aware for the past month naval forces from Sarasaland have been harrying trade ships from the south as they move towards Kooparia. In response the trade vessels were retrofitted sacrificing cargo space for defensive weaponry, half an hour ago I received word that an all out naval assault was launched in which two trade vessels on their way to Kooparia were boarded, then sunk, several others were also badly damaged. While we have reached an accord with the Mushroom Kingdom regarding ownership of Kooparia no such agreement was made with Sarasaland. It is my belief that this is a pre-cursor to an all out offensive to attempt to retake Kooparia on behalf of Princess Daisy's long standing ally Princess Peach," Bowser said.

"What kind of military does Sarasaland possess?" Alexander asked.

"The military forces of Sarasaland are the only force in Mushroom World capable of standing on equal footing with ours in both numerical value and combat training," Ludwig said having already taken his place by Bowser's side.

"That is correct," Bowser said, "which is why I have decided to move forward ahead of schedule with Operation Hamstring. Princess Daisy and the Sarasaland military are one of the main components that have prevented an all out invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom by our forces. Attempting to defeat the combined forces of both kingdoms would be a fool's venture and set out military strength back by decades, Operation Hamstring is designed to take the Sarasaland Factor out of the equation."

"Bout time we gots ta kickin' some ass," Roy said, "who's we gonna bash?"

"The military forces of Sarasaland my neolithic brethren, were you not listening?" Ludwig said.

"I know dat yous nerd, I meant where we gonna go ta do da bashin'," Roy said as he walked up to Ludwig and looked down at him, "and don't be calling me no neo-whatsits eitha shrimp!" In response to the perceived threat Ludwig turned to face Roy who was almost a head and a half taller than him, "Unless you wish to revisit our last confrontation dear brother I suggest you calm your ire," Ludwig said, while he didn't raise his voice there was an unmistakable threatening undertone. Much to Alexander's surprise Roy just glared at Ludwig for a moment before growling and walking away, it was such a surprise because Ludwig was barely half Roy's size and yet the family bully back down from him. "Did I miss something or did Ludwig get a lot bigger and not tell anyone?" Alexander asked Wendy in a soft whisper.

"Actually he did, as of last month or so he's been able to breath fire like dad, last time Roy got in his face, his face got second degree burns and melted sunglasses," Wendy whispered. With a wince Alexander turned his attention back to the meeting now knowing where the burns he had seen some time ago had come from. "Not only are the sinking of our trade vessels and act which cannot go unanswered, we well also launch a pre-emptive strike to prevent Sarasaland from conducting any large scale military operations against Kooparia or any of our other holdings, our response will be as follows," Bowser said as he took three pegs from the side of the table and placed them on key points of the map over Sarasaland. "I will lead our military forces in a strike against Krast, Sarasaland's primary industrial city and one of their key manufacturing facilities of military armaments."

"I thought we w-w-were trying to avoid open war with S-Sarasaland," Iggy said.

"We are, the attack on Krast is only a feint, if anything Princess Daisy is predictable," Bowser said as he pointed to the other two pegs, "the movement of large scale military forces through the warp pipe network is impractical as we all know, so Sarasaland relies on their naval fleet to support the Mushroom Kingdom in times of danger. When the princess sees that I'm attacking Krast she will pull her military from other areas to help defend the city leaving only skeleton forces to defend other holdings. I want Lord Magnus and Iggy to take a small commando force here to Curilon, while Roy and Morton lead another to Ralison, these teams will simultaneously demolish both of Sarasaland's naval yards effectively crippling their sea power."

"What are you up to?" Alexander asked.

"Excuse me?" Bowser said looking over at him.

"This attack, this whole... Operation Hamstring, it's too much of a response for the sinking of two trade ships. There's something bigger at play isn't there?" Alexander asked.

"Very perceptive Lord Magnus, Operation Hamstring is only the opening gambit of a larger military campaign I call Operation Endgame, Ludwig," Bowser said looking over at him.

"Operation Endgame is a military campaign designed to not only conquer the Mushroom Kingdom in totality, but also to remove the Mario factor from the final equation," Ludwig said.

"What about Luigi?" Morton asked.

"Who?" Ludwig said causing a few snickers, it was a given he was included but his 'second string' status was often the butt of jokes in the castle, "can anyone tell me why the Mario Brothers are so effective in their defense of the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"Guerrilla tactics," Bowser Jr. said, "they disrupt lines of communications, sabotage infrastructure, destroy supply lines, and they're fast, real damn fast."

"Indubitably my brother, a most accurate assessment. Guerrilla tactics have been the mainstay of the Mario Brothers since their arrival in Mushroom World. With the development of Operation Endgame father and I felt it most fitting that we also develop new tactics to invalidate the ability of the brothers to disrupt our operations," Ludwig said. At this Alexander watched as his father Mortimer took a small leather bag out of his pocket setting it on the table. He carefully unzipped the bag producing a device small enough that several people had to squint to see it.

[IMG].[/IMG]

"What you see here is a new type of communication device that Ludwig and I developed in a joint venture, it's called a hyperwave encoder. It's transplanted under the skin just behind the ear and allows the user to send and receive messages sent through an extra-dimensional plane which renders it immune to all known forms of jamming. This will allow our soldiers to remain in communication regardless of any attempts to sabotage communication lines. The device is immune to high voltage electrical discharges, resistant to magic attacks, and powered by the user's own bio-electrical energy." Mortimer said.

"Indeed, but that is only the first step in decentralizing our military forces so they are able to carry out their missions without need of constant communication with a higher command structure," Ludwig said, "we have also reorganized officer deployment to rely heavily on the ability of the commanders to adapt to changes in real time battlefield situations. These two key elements will be essential in our conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom." Once Mortimer and Ludwig had finished speaking Bowser took a what appeared to be a small metal plate roughly the size of a notebook from his shell and placed it on the table. He pressed one of several small colored buttons on the bottom causing it to display a holographic map of the Mushroom Kingdom. "Oooh, snazzy," Alexander said. The display flickered briefly, then when it cleared up Alexander took a quick count of the red dots on the map, there were eighteen. Bowser pointed at the map, "Once we hamstring Sarasaland's naval forces our military will be broken down into nineteen separate strike forces, each with sight specific orders. They will dispatch striking all of their targets simultaneously, this will draw the Mario Brothers here, to the princess' castle not only to ensure her safety, but to receive their orders to defend the kingdom. We will have spies monitor them and follow their movements, once they are at the castle I will lead the nineteenth strike force with all of you. There we will defeat those damned plumbers and their precious princess once and for all and I will take my rightful place as ruler of the Dark Kingdom."

"I think this is the first time I've ever gotten a hard-on not involving a woman," Alexander said to Wendy who just gave him a disgusted look. When he looked back to Bowser he noticed his father was standing next to him with a big smile on his face which once again peaked his curiosity, what was the old man up to. "Sir?" Mortimer said looking to Bowser who in turn motioned to the metal pad that was displaying the map. "Now for my own personal contribution to the campaign," Mortimer said. Pressing one of the buttons he changed the display.

[IMG].[/IMG]

"As you can see here we have Goombisius Coprinus Comatus, or in simpler terms a Goomba Mushroom. These little fungal soldiers, along with turtles, have been one of the mainstays of King Koopa's army since he took power. Now I would like introduce you to the newest addition to our ranks." Mortimer said. Again he pressed a button bringing up another picture.

[IMG].[/IMG]

"Jesus H. Christ what is that?" Alexander said voicing the expression on the faces of almost everyone in the room. "That would be Goombisius Coprinus Comatus Primus, or Goomba Prime. It's a new species of Goomba Mushroom that I've spent the past year genetically engineering. It's faster, stronger, tougher, averages four feet in height, and is resistant to downward strikes on its head. The Goomba Prime despite its appearance is also highly intelligent and not prone to the failing of excessive stupidity common to most engineered shock troops. This new breed will bolster the ranks of the Dark Land military during Operation Endgame, with Ludwig's help we've set up labs to help grow the Primes en mass for the upcoming conflict," Mortimer said. Aside from the Goomba general who had yet to pick his jaw up off the floor, everyone else seemed to be quite excited about everything they were hearing. "Uuuuuh," Lemmy began, "what're we gon' do with them things once the war's over?"

"Nothing, they're intelligent enough to control their violent urges during times of peace, they'll settle down and live their lives just like any other citizen of the Dark Lands," Mortimer said.

"Opinions, comments?" Bowser asked.

"It's about goddamn time," Alexander said, then quickly added, "sir," when Bowser looked over at him. "Wendy? You've been unusually quiet," Bowser said. The quiet was broken as Wendy grinned broadly bearing her mouth full of sharp teeth, "I'm going to enjoy kicking that blond whore off her throne, you have no idea how long I've waited for this!" Alexander recognized the look in Wendy's eye, it was the same as when she had helped him massacre the NTA members at the research lab where Clawdia had been held after her kidnapping, he had a feeling she was going to do a lot more than kick Princess Peach off her throne... not that he cared. Excitement was the best way to describe what Alexander was feeling, it was a sentiment shared by everyone in the room, save for the Goomba general who was still gawking at the display. This was the moment Alexander had been waiting for since fully committing himself to Bowser's service, it was 'the' plan, the full conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom and he was almost giddy knowing that he would be a part of it.

"What about those fucking Yoshis?" the Goomba general said finally regaining his composure.

"If the Yoshis attempt to move against us during Operation Endgame they'll become a non-factor. If you'll recall when the NTA kidnapped Clawdia they infected her with a mutated stain of Typhoid. Well I've taken the work of those scientific amateurs and developed it to it's full potential. The virus now known as Typhoid Strain Yoshi, or TYS for short, is a virus engineered only to effect the Yoshi species. Once exposed death ensures within two minutes," Mortimer said.

"So don't wes just make a virus ta get rid of all da Mushroom twats?" Roy asked.

"Because we're trying to conquer them not wipe them out you dumb ass," Alexander said. Roy's only response was to glare and let out a loud growl. "You all have your orders, let's move out," Bowser said. As the meeting dispersed Alexander caught up with his father who had just walked out into the hall, falling in step next to him he wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "What's crackin' jack?"

"From the briefing in there I'd say a lot," Mortimer said looking at Alexander.

"I meant with you," Alexander said.

"With me? Not much now," Mortimer said.

"You know dad, there's something I've been meaning to ask you. I know why I serve Bowser but what's your story? I mean you don't have a problem serving someone that most of Mushroom World considers a tyrannical dictator?" Alexander asked. Glancing down at the floor for a moment Mortimer adjusted his glasses, then looked up, "I've actually thought about that a lot lately. At first it was just so I could be close to you, but the more I thought about it, the more I considered everything, I realized wars will go on with or without me. I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself, I wanted to contribute in a way that will be remembered when I'm gone, after all I'd be a fool not to realize I have more days behind me than I do ahead of me."

"Dad... father, you will be remembered all over the world, you're my father and I'm probably one of the most hated people in Mushroom World. You're also the grandfather of Princess Clawdia, your place in history is already written," Alexander said.

"Thanks kiddo," Mortimer said with a smile, "now don't you have a raid to get ready for?"

Before taking off down the hall Alexander gave his father a hug, that was another problem he'd been meaning to address, spending more time with him. Mortimer was right about having more days behind than ahead considering he was seventy-six. Once the Mushroom Kingdom was firmly under Bowser's control as the Dark Kingdom and when he got his slice of the pie along with Wendy he was going to have a sit down and really get to know him. For now he had to get ready for Operation Hamstring and prove that Princess Daisy was as much of a dumb shit as Roy. He already had everything he needed for this little commando strike on a personal level in his shell, three fire flowers, an ice flower, a hammer like those used by hammer brothers, and a wand, his main concern was Iggy. Iggy was a mechanical genius capable of designing almost anything his demented imagination could conjure up, but he was the most scatter-brained of the koopa princes and in recent times had started showing signs of what Mortimer had described as schizophrenia, he just hoped the nut job could keep it together.

"You ready t-to do this?" Iggy asked, walking up next to Alexander. While not the largest by any account, Iggy was easily the tallest of Bowser's children, even slightly more so than Roy. Unfortunately he looked more like a disjointed scarecrow with glasses than a menacing koopa. "Of course I am, the question is are you?" Alexander asked.

"W-What's that suppose to mean?" Iggy asked.

"It means you've been even weirder than usual and I don't need you coming apart at the seams in the middle of a mission," Alexander said pointing a finger at him.

"I be f-f-fine, just take care of your end of things!" Iggy snapped.

"I assume you have intel reports regarding Sarasaland's military," Alexander said.

"Well duh," Iggy said.

"Good, then tell Roy and Morton to get their shit in gear and let's have our own little pow-wow on this. We're going to need those reports to figure out what we're going to need to level the naval yards," Alexander said.

"We's gots our shit togeta midget," Roy said.

With a glance over his shoulder Alexander saw Roy and Morton coming up behind them, soon the four of them were walking as a group, though the conversation didn't pick up until they knew there were no prying ears in the hallways they were walking down. "What do you suggest we use to demolish the shipyards, it's a given we'll need to use explosives but the question is which one will give us the biggest bang for our buck," Alexander said.

"I says we use octanitrocubane," Roy said. To even hear Roy use such a large word was amsuing to Alexander, though he wasn't surprised that he was so familiar with such destructive materials, "C4's big brother, interesting," Alexander said.

"You familiar wit dat?" Roy asked.

"By reputation only," Alexander said.

"Hehe, well let's get jiggy wit dis, bomb class is now in session," Roy said.


	4. Chapter III

Once all the plans were in place, the proper explosives gathered, and their proper use explained the four commandos assembled their strike teams for the mission. Roy and Morton took two Ninjis for recon along with two hammer brothers for added muscle... as if they needed anymore. Alexander and Iggy took two Ninjis as well, but instead of a pair of hammer brothers they opted for one hammer brother and a Lakitu for aerial recon, Alexander had also been the one who carried the explosives for his team as he was still unsure of Iggy's stability. "Alright, we's gone use da pipe network ta get to Sarasaland, but we's gots ta come out nort of da kingdom in da badlands cause all dere pipes is too well guarded, plus we's spose to be sneakin' and stuff," Roy said. The eloquence of Roy's speech was staggering compared to Ludwig but Alexander decided antagonizing him before a mission probably wasn't a good idea so he kept his mouth shut. He allowed the 'lumbering lummox' as he called him, to lead the way to the pipe room, there, among the dozens of pipes Roy scrambled into one half way up the wall just behind the door. Iggy actually had to give Alexander a boost so he could climb in considering how high up it was, once inside there was a brief moment of darkness before he surfaced grabbing the side of the pipe and performing a complete flip before his feet hit the ground. He'd decided if he was going to travel by pipe he might as well do it in style.

"So where do we go from here?" Alexander asked.

"Dis ain't nort of Sarasaland, we's still got a couple a pipes ta crawl trough," Roy said.

"Then where are we?" Alexander asked. The area they were in was green like the Mushroom Kingdom but the topography was different, instead of open fields and grassy plains they were surrounded by rolling hills and enough oak trees to make a forest had they been grouped together any tighter. "From the look of things I'd say the south western edge of the Bean Bean Kingdom, taking the long way Roy?" Morton asked.

"Yeah, so's we dun't raise spicions an all dat," Roy said.

"Are we even allowed to be here?" Alexander asked as they began to walk along the only dirt road in sight. "Yes, though we're not allied to the Bean Bean Kingdom we do have a treaty with them allowing access to a portion of their pipe network for travel purposes, so long as we don't deviate from the designated paths without permission," Morton said.

"What about prying eyes, how do we know someone friendly won't run ahead of us and shoot their mouth off?" Alexander asked, purposely being vague in case someone might be doing just that, spying on their movements. "Not entirely impossible but unlikely, the portion of the pipe network we're allowed access to leads to over two dozen different destinations, and it's widely used by Dark Land citizens for travel. Seeing Koopa along these roads isn't uncommon," Morton said. It wasn't koopa being seen along the road that Alexander was worried about, it was him. The more he thought about his earlier statement of being one of the most hated people outside the Dark Lands the more it occurred that he might actually be right, that combined with the fact his movements were usually followed by chaos and destruction it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if he was outside the Dark Lands something was about to go down. This thought bothered him to the point he finally pulled the group off the road into a small gathering of trees. "Alright listen, considering my reputation for destruction being seen outside of the Dark Lands might just tip off someone aware of the situation with Sarasaland's attacks on our trade ships, can any of you weave a disguise spell?" Alexander asked.

The others looked around for a moment, then Morton reached into his shell pulling out a wand, he stood looking at Alexander and letting out small 'hmm' sounds until he snapped his fingers, "Got it," he said. Holding the wand out he began to wave his free hand around in small circular motions as he mumbled a mantra under his breath, when he was finished he placed the wand back into his shell. Alexander was about to walk back towards the road when he noticed Morton failing horribly in an attempt not to smile, Iggy was snickering, and finally Roy busted out laughing so hard he fell over backwards holding his stomach. When Alexander looked down he notice he was disguised as a koopa, albeit with gold hoop bracelets and red high heeled shoes... Morton had disguised him as his wife Wendy. "You fucking asshole," Alexander said. At this point all three busted out into uncontrollable fits of laughter. Standing there with his arms crossed and an 'eat shit and die' expression, he waited several minutes as the others periodically looked at him and started laughing again before finally recovering, afterwards he pointed at Morton, "I'll remember this," Alexander said as he walked off in a huff. The other problem his disguise presented was the fact he had to keep his mouth shut, Wendy with a baritone voice wouldn't be very convincing.

After the little laughing fit at his expense Roy, Morton, Iggy, and 'Wendy' continued walking along the dirt road through the Bean Bean Kingdom, not only were there a lot of hills here, there were also sudden breaks in the land resulting in irregual cliff formations, some only a few feet high while others rose stories into the air. There were also sections along the road where the cliff formations rose up in front of them and the Bean Bean citizens had been forced to cut through and smooth everything out so the path was still usable. While they were walking Alexander noticed a small group of turtles eating grass some distance away from them, he slapped Iggy on the shoulder and pointed to them but remained silent for the sake of his disguise. "They're not the s-same s-species, they just look like it. They're s-s-s-stupid, no s-sentient thought," Iggy said.

"Bro, wat's wit dat s-s-stutter," Roy said.

"Fuck you," Iggy said.

"Didn't seem to stutter that time," Morton said looking at Roy. Alexander didn't mind a bit, if they were ragging on each other at least they'd leave him the hell alone, he was serious about remembering this, he was going to have to think of a way to get Morton back later on. For the next hour they periodically switched between walking and warping through half a dozen different pipes, after their last warp the lay of the land changed considerably, instead of rolling green hills and trees the land before them was now a barren, blazingly hot dessert. That told Alexander that they were close to their target as he was aware nearly all of Sarasaland was covered by sand. "Right, dis is were we part ways, da pipe leadin' to Ralison is dat way," Roy said thumbing over his shoulder, then pointed behind Iggy, "Curilon's 'bout fifteen miles soutwest, and watch yo asses, dey's some mean shit out here." Alexander looked to Iggy finally deciding it was safe to talk, "What's mean shit consist of? Last thing I want is a giant sand worm trying to eat my happy ass."

"Wild Goombas, large birds, fire breathing cats, mos-stly," Iggy said.

The interesting thing Alexander noticed about Iggy's stutter was that he mostly stumbled when trying to pronounce the letter S, but not when it was at the end of a word, that and he didn't seem to have problems telling Roy to fuck off. "Looks like we have a long damned walk ahead of us, let's get it over with," Alexander said. Aside from the distance the walk itself wasn't actually that bothersome to him, the heat was nice, after living in Koopa Castle where there were open, but fenced off, lava flows he was used to extreme heat. The little forays he took into the Mushroom Kingdom were on the chilly side to him where they once would have felt normal... strange how one can adapt given the right circumstances. "You have any idea where we're going, it's all sand to me," Alexander said.

Iggy pointed in a direction similar to the one Roy had earlier, "That way."

"How can you be sure?" Alexander asked.

"Got a compass in my watch," Iggy said holding his left arm up.

"Alright, let's go over this," stopping for a moment Alexander looked back at the rest of their little group, the Ninjis, Hammer Brother, and Lakitu had been so quiet he'd completely forgotten they were there until the thought of troop deployment at the naval yard came up, "well don't just stand there, get the hell over here." Once everyone was gathered around Alexander began his explanation, "Alright, when we get to the naval yard we'll have to take out a patrol or two in order to create enough of a gap in security to slip inside. It won't give us long though because they'll come looking for the missing soldiers in short order, we'll have to move fast." Taking a number of the bombs Roy had fashioned out of his shell Alexander began to hand two of them to everyone except the Lakitu, "alright, you all saw the intel reports and recon photos of the naval yards, eeeh, the hell are your names?" Alexander asked.

"George," the Hammer Brother said.

"Gwen, Fwyler," the two Ninjis said, that caused Alexander to stop and look at one of them for a moment when he realized he was actually a she as there was no way of telling the two apart.

"Greg," the Lakitu said.

"Alright George, I want you to plant your charges on the dock, Gwen, Fwyler, you'll plant both of your charges on the main building, Iggy, you handle the armory, and I'll take the storage depot," Alexander said, then looked up at the Lakuti, "Greg, I want you to start doing high altitude recon, you'll be our eyes in the sky. Let us know if there's anything coming on our way to the naval yard, or if we're spotted once inside." With a nod Greg looked up into the sky quickly rising out of sight as the Ninjis dashed off ahead of the group. With the Hammer Brother in tow Iggy and Alexander resumed walking. The sun glared down on them from high overhead with it's bright yellow rays which seemed to bother the Hammer Brother more than it did his two companions. "Just recently assigned to the castle detail?" Alexander asked looking back at George.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" George said wiping his brow with his forearm.

"Most of the guards who've served on the castle detail for any extended period of time are used to the heat, hell this feels good to me," Alexander said, "so what's your story, why'd you enlist?"

"Money, there was an economic depression in the Dark Lands about three years ago, it wasn't devastating but it did make finding a job damn near impossible. I was at my financial end, bills were piling up, I couldn't put food on the table for my wife and son, so I enlisted. At least there's job security here because you really have to screw up for the military to fire you," George said.

"You've got a point there," Iggy said, "you like the military?"

"Yeah I do actually, at first I didn't think I would but there's more than financial security in the army. There's discipline, teamwork, college benefits, a career, a pension if you serve a full twenty-two years, the opportunities are incredible," George said.

"Speaking of teamwork what's with Hammer Brothers anyway, you guys always have twins or something?" Alexander asked. That question caused George to laugh a little as he shook his head, "Most hammer brothers aren't really brothers, although a lot of them are related to some extent, it's a social custom," he said.

"How'd that come about?" Alexander asked.

"Gosh," George said scratching his head, "I don't really know, it's been around... forever?"

"The Trens... sian Wars," Iggy said.

"You've studied hammer society?" George asked looking over at Iggy.

"Not really, I had to do a his-s-story report for my s-school tutor last year," Iggy said, "George is right though it's ancient history. About a thous-s-sand years ago the Hammer Nation was at war with nomadic s-sniffit tribes..." Iggy stopped for a moment and closed his eyes smacking his lips together a few times he looked back to other two, "they used guerrilla tactics similar to the brothers and decimated the hammer military in a fairly short amount of time. In response the Hammer King began to use guerrilla tactics as well, he paired his remaining warriors off in twos so they'd never have to fight alone. They were able to defeat the sniffit tribes and after the war the pairing of Hammers fell into use as a social custom. They do maintain gender divisions though, men with men, women with women." Iggy said. The sudden lack of a stutter on Iggy's part wasn't lost on his two companions, though he was able to talk normally with considerable effort they did notice that he had to slow down when trying to pronounce the letter S, though neither of them said anything about it.

"There's a Hammer Nation?" Alexander asked looking at George.

"Sorta, kinda, somewhat, not really," George said, "it was on the western edge of what's now the Dark Lands, when the House of Koopa took power it was annexed as part of the kingdom. Haven't you ever wondered why there's a city named Sledge?"

"There's a lot of shit in this world that's still strange to me so... not really," Alexander said.

"Mind if I ask you some questions about Earth, Lord Magnus?" George asked.

"Fire away," Alexander said.

"Are there a lot of humans on Earth?" George asked.

"Extremely, no one can get a pin point accurate head count but the last world census placed the human population at around seven to eight billion," Alexander said. George and Iggy both responded with wide eyed expression which didn't surprise him considering the sparse population of Mushroom World by comparison. "How do they feed that many people?" George asked.

"They don't, there are areas on Earth where people die of starvation every day, other areas of the world use technology to boost agricultural output, or simply don't have massive populations requiring large amounts of food to support," Alexander said.

"People starve to death every day, that's horrible, why doesn't anyone do anything?" George said.

"They try, but the people in power just don't give a shit about anything not involving money or power, and those that do care don't have money or power," Alexander said, "see my world is corrupt beyond anything I've even come close to seeing here. Who gives a flying fuck if some little nobody dies, there'll be someone else to take their place, another clock monkey to punch their time card at work. Good old capitalism 'In dollar we trust'."

"What's a dollar?" Iggy asked.

"One of Earth's many currencies... as a matter of fact," Alexander said reaching into his shell, rummaging around he took out his old black leather wallet he'd kept more out of habit than anything else, and took out a pair of dollar bills handing one to George and Iggy. "There my fellow koopas is the root of damn near all the pain, suffering, and pretty much every other problem on Earth," Alexander said.

"It says in God we trust," George said.

"I know, but it might as well say in dollar we trust, capitalism has corrupted American society, America being the nation I lived in prior to coming here, to the point the dollar has pretty much replaced God or any other form of moral restraint. Don't rape, rob, or murder, that's pretty much it," Alexander said.

"Who's God?" Iggy asked.

"Religious deity figure on Earth, regarded by many to be the creator of Earth, humanity, the galaxy, pretty much everything," Alexander said.

"Do you believe in God?" Iggy asked.

"Undecided really, but I do believe if God exists he doesn't give a shit about Earth so why should I give a shit if he exists. Let him do his thing I'll do my thing. While we're on the subject are there any religions here? I haven't seen any churches, priests, religious figures or anything of the like," Alexander said.

Iggy and George looked to each other for a moment, then back to Alexander saying in unison, "No."

"Well that'd probably explain the lack of excessive amounts of unnecessary violence here," Alexander said. George peered over Alexander's shoulder as they walked pointing to his driver's license, "What's that?"

"Hmm?" Alexander said looking down, "oh that, it's a driver's license. You have to pass a test and be issued a license on Earth before you can drive most motorized vehicles, it's also used as a form of identification."

"You looked pis... pis... mad in that picture," Iggy said.

Alexander chuckled a little, "I was, found out that morning a woman I was dating named Cindy was cheating on me with her supposedly ex-boyfriend."

The trio of commandos spent most of the rest of that day talking, Alexander learned a lot about the history of Mushroom World just as Iggy and George learned much about Earth and its ways. It wasn't until the sun had almost set on the horizon that one of the Ninjis reappeared reporting that the naval yard was just two miles ahead of them. They were about to get ready to start their mission when a small radio in Alexander's shell crackled with static, "Is yous guys in position yet? We's been waitin' here fer like two hours, over," Roy said in a near whisper. Removing the small black walkie-talkie style radio from his shell Alexander held it up to his mouth pressing the transmit button, "We're two miles out, we'll be in position in about half an hour, over." Once he had reported his situation to Roy he told the Ninjis to take up an observation positions outside the naval yard within visual range of them and wait for the signal to move in. Continuing to within half a mile of their target under the cover of complete darkness by the time they arrived, all three commandos dropped to a prone position on their stomachs and removed binoculars from their shells. The Sarasaland Naval Yard was a large military facility surrounded on three sides by a by a fifteen foot high, double layered, chain link fence topped with coiled barbwire and extended roughly fifty yards out into the ocean to prevent someone from trying to sneak around the open side without making a lot of noise.

There were four solid metal guard towers one at each rear corner of the fence with two on the beach, each manned by a guard that swept the area regularly with a large spotlight. Inside the fence the naval yard was comprised of several buildings including a barracks, armory, storage shed, and the main building directly in front of the docks, a large towering cylindrical structure three stories high that supported a pair of cranes designed for loading and unloading heavy cargo. The docks themselves were little more than wood with stone supports and looked to be quite antiquated, but there were also undergoing heavy renovation to extend them further out into the ocean to increase the number of ships that could dock at any given time. The construction seemed to be fairly new as the extension were little more than metal and wood skeletons. There were also several other smaller buildings which all looked like on-base housing though they weren't targeted for destruction. It occurred to Alexander that this had possibly been a military base once instead of naval as the domed building design seemed somewhat off for a naval base. "Any ideas?" George asked.

"I'm thinking, this might be a little difficult because if we try to scale the fence, cut through it, or swim around we'll be spotted almost immediately, hmmmmm..." Alexander said.

"Not really," Iggy said.

Alexander and George looked over at Iggy as he in turn looked at them, "Have one of the Ninjis scale the tower and beat the shit out of the guard, wear the uniform, and keep moving the spotlight so nothing looks unusual. As dark as it is no one will notice unless they look directly at the tower with a pair of binoculars, that would give us a little more breathing room," Iggy said.

"True, but then one of us would have to pick up the slack for the Ninji in the guard tower when it came to planting the charges," Alexander said.

"Have Greg do it," George said.

"The Lakitu?" Alexander asked.

"Why not, they can walk you know," Iggy said.

Alexander remained silent for several moments thinking the situation over, "Well shit, I don't have any better ideas. How are we going to get Greg's attention he's clear up there right now," he said pointing to the sky. It was Iggy's turn to rummage around in his shell before he took out what looked like a small metal cylinder, Alexander recognized it as a pen light, however, when Iggy pointed it up towards the sky and clicked it a few times no light appeared. "What was that all about?" Alexander asked.

"You do know Lakitu have s-some of the be-s-st vis-sion in Mus... hroom World right?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah," Alexander said.

"Well that vis... ion also borders on the ultra-violet s-spectrum, while they can't s-see UV light normally," Iggy said holding out the pen light, "they can s-see concentrated burs... ts of light like this." No sooner had Iggy finished his explanation than Greg came floating down on his cloud behind the three, "What's up guys?" Greg said.

"Time for a little footwork," Alexander said, making a hand signal in the direction of one of the Ninjis he waited until it came running over to explain the situation. "Alright, here's the deal. We're going to have to do a little switch-up from our original plan uh... which one are you?" Alexander asked looking at the Ninji.

"Gwen," she said.

"Alright, Gwen, I want you to give your explosives to Greg. What we're going to do is have you scale the guard tower, you can scale the guard tower can't you?" Alexander asked. Gwen responded by flexing her body enough to extend a pair of claws from her hands and feet. "Good, scale the tower and take out the guard. After that put on his uniform and keep rotating the spotlight so nothing looks out of the ordinary," Alexander said.

"No problem," Gwen said, taking the explosives out of her uniform, which made Alexander wonder where the hell they were hidden in the first place, and walked over to Greg handing them off. With the explosives in hand Greg shoved them into his shell, then seemed to be fiddling with something inside his cloud before it dissipated leaving a small metal disc in his hand as he plopped to the ground. Once everybody was ready to go Alexander nodded to Gwen. The little Ninji, barely a foot tall dashed towards the guard tower, at first the quartet was concerned that the guard might see her foot prints in the sand until she moved close to the area the spotlight passed over. Using her momentum she leapt forward only rising a few inches off the ground as she easily cleared ten feet across, then came to a stop at the base of the guard tower. They all watched anxiously as she extended her claws and began to scale the outside of the guard tower, little more than a box on metal stilts the tower didn't present much of a challenge for Gwen's climbing skills. As she latched onto the outside wall of the tower everyone watched as the darkened figure of the guard turned around just in time to be attacked, there was a brief struggle before he fell to the floor and Gwen's clawed hand could be seen rising and falling half a dozen times. "Next time I say take out the guard I should probably specify between knock out and kill," Alexander said looking over at Iggy, Iggy just shrugged a little response. The time between the attack on the guard and when Gwen began rotating the spotlight again was so brief that no one on the base seemed to notice.

"Okay, we've got our breathing room, now exactly how are we going to get inside the base, we still don't have a way in. I brought the wire cutters but that would be a little too visible," George said.

Iggy made a motion with his hand and soon the other Ninji came running over as Iggy looked to the other three, "Their claws are good for more than s-slicing people up. Fwyler, can you dig a tunnel under the guard tower right there?"

"What about the guard?" Fwyler asked.

"Dead, that's Gwen rotating the s... potlight to maintain appearances," Iggy said. With a small salute Fwyler took off running while Alexander, Iggy, George, and Greg followed in a crouched jog some distance behind. By the time they closed the distance to the guard tower Fwyler had already disappeared into a tunnel underneath as both sand and dirt were being spit out of the entrance behind him. About five minutes later the Ninji reappeared panting and sweating from the exertion of digging so fast. "You're doing a great job Fwyler, you can do it," George said. After a brief pause the Ninji nodded, then dove back into his digging to widen the tunnel enough for the others to fit through as more dirt and sand flew from the under the tower. As everyone waited Alexander was watching Fwyler dig in so far as watching sand and dirt go flying around when something clicked in the back of his head and he looked over at Iggy, "Weren't there suppose to be guards patrolling the area?" he asked. That remark caused George to suddenly start looking around, "Something's not right, even when you deploy soldiers to reinforce another location you don't cancel all the guard patrols," he said.

"I don't like this," Alexander said.

After Fwyler had widened the tunnel enough for the others to fit inside he reappeared at the entrance collapsing onto the ground as he panted and heaved, "Tunnel's... finished. Left a few inches... of dirt... on the other side, just... punch through."

"You gonna be alright?" George asked.

Fwyler nodded a few times, "Just need to... catch my breath."

Removing the walkie-talkie from his shell Alexander brought it up to his mouth again, "We're in position, moving to target. Maintain radio silence for the next thirty minutes, over and out," he said in a near whisper. The group waited for a few minutes to let Fwyler catch his breath, when he finally stood up resting his hands on his knees he nodded and everyone started squeezing their way into the tunnel with Iggy in the lead. Even with the tunnel widened things were a tight squeeze, Alexander was surrounded by complete darkness with only the smell of damp soil and dirt under his fingers. On hands and knees the four of them made their way through the darkness until Iggy stopped moments later, "Uh oh," he said.

"What, something wrong?" Alexander said.

"I gotta fart," Iggy said.

"You do and I'll shove one of these bombs up your ass, now keep moving," Alexander said. It was only a few more feet before Iggy stopped again and Alexander could hear him scratching around before the dirt began to crumble and the pale light of the moon filtered in from above. After everyone had crawled out of he tunnel they looked around before a long, drawn out 'fweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeermph' sound came from Iggy's direction at which point everyone stopped and looked at him. "What? I s-s-said I had to fart," Iggy said. That was followed by the group suddenly taking a few steps back as they waved their hands in front of their faces, "God Iggy, what is wrong with you?" Alexander said.

"I like deviled eggs," Iggy said.

"Fuck me, next time I'll just aim your ass at Mario," Alexander said, once the smell had cleared he made sure Greg knew how to arm the bombs he had along with what building to plant them on, then with a nod everyone took of as stealthily as possible towards their intended targets. Alexander was actually starting to enjoy his little 'terror missions', all the chaos and destruction was oddly enough, fun, although the danger and risk of discovery also had the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. Dropping down behind one of several of the residential buildings he began to move along in a crouching position only peering out every so often to see where the night shift guards were patrolling, after several glances he was able to see there were only four guards, two on the inside of the compound, and two moving in long slow strides around the inside of the fence and much to his surprise they were all human. Armed with long spears with swords strapped to their sides the guards were dressed in light clothing similar to the toads in that they were open front vests, but they also wore t-shirts underneath, long baggy pants, and military style boots all with desert camouflage designs. It wasn't hard for Alexander to avoid the patrols, ducking between buildings, which was something else that bothered him, this entire mission was turning out to be far too easy which was making him uneasy. After ducking and dodging his way through the base he finally came to his intended target, a medium sized storage depot.

The building was little more than what appeared to be a large oil drum turned on its side and half buried in the ground, from his movements before he knew there was a single guard standing in front of the only entrance at the other end of the building, someone was about to have a bad day Alexander thought to himself. As quietly as he possible he made his way half way to the front of the building and removed the first bomb from his shell, the explosive device looked like a small black metal box with an electronic timer on the front, turning it around he ripped a paper strip off the back where an adhesive had been applied so the charge could be mounted on damn near anything. Kneeling down he placed it against the side of the building and began to press the buttons on the front to set the timer for one minute when he heard a small 'fwomp' and saw a green light flickering out of the corner of his eye, "I wouldn't do that if I were you," the voice said. With a deep sigh Alexander stood up facing the light already knowing full well who it was. "Well well well, if it isn't Mr. I wanna be Mario when I grow up," he said. He waited for Luigi to say something else when he heard a series of rapid footsteps closing from behind, spinning around with a leg extended to kick whoever was behind him Alexander felt a massive object slam into his chest before the world around him started to spin as he tumbled across the ground. When he came to halt in the middle of the compound he was laying on his stomach feeling like a freight train had just smashed into him. He slowly pushed up onto one knee seeing Luigi approach with Princess Daisy next to him. The princess had a massive sledgehammer resting over her shoulder with a head on it the size of Alexander's torso and the word 'POW' written across it in red letters, the only thing he could figure was that for her to swing something that size it had to be made out of extremely lightweight materials.

"The fuck are you two doing here?" Alexander said.

"What's it look like we're doing, kicking your ass," Daisy said.

"Shouldn't you be at Krast?" Alexander asked.

"What, defending against Bowser's fake attack?" Daisy said.

"Wait a minute, you knew..." Alexander said.

"Oh come on, how stupid do you think I am?" Daisy said.

"Do you reeeally want me to answer that question?" Alexander asked finally making it to his feet.

"Of course I knew, do you really think I give a crap about Bowser's stupid little cargo ships?" Daisy asked.

"Then why attack them?" Alexander asked.

"Because I knew if I sank some of his ships, big green and stupid would respond by sending his favorite little lap dog to do his dirty work for him, in other words you. Don't tell me, let me guess. Ol' morning breath figured as soon as I saw him marching troops on Krast I'd pull all of my military into one place and just ignore everything else right?" Daisy said.

"That was the general idea, but like I said, what are you doing here?" Alexander asked.

"What, do you need me to spell it out dumb ass? Did you really think you could massacre all those people at Lilliona and then just ride off into the sunset like nothing ever happened? You're one of the most evil, vile, and cruel monsters I've even seen Alex, and it's time you paid for your crimes," Daisy said.

"That's Lord Magnus to you... Daisy! So all of this was just a set up, to get to me?" Alexander asked.

"And they call me stupid," Luigi said rolling his eyes

Putting his fingers to his mouth Alexander let out three short, sharp whistles, a signal that had been agreed upon prior to the mission to indicated someone's cover had been blown and that they were in trouble. "Alright you sorry pair of second string design rip-offs, you want a piece of me, come and get it!" Alexander said pulling the battle hammer from his shell.


	5. Chapter IV

With a battle cry that would have woken the dead, Alexander charged both Princess Daisy and Luigi. While he was confident in his ability to take either of them in single combat he knew his chances of besting them together were slim to none, the frontal assault was designed to throw them off balance long enough for back-up to arrive. The gambit worked to a degree as Luigi stumbled backwards with a startled expression on his face, Daisy however did not, she raced directly at Alexander with her own hammer drawn back to strike, screaming every bit as loudly. She brought the massive sledgehammer down in a diagonal arc over her shoulder trying to hit Alexander only to have her weapon slam into the ground as her target spun to the side. Alexander brought his hammer to bear in a swing aimed at Daisy's head meeting empty air as she tilted her upper body out of the way and in the same motioned kicked him hard enough to send him tumbling to the ground before he could regain his balance. The princess quickly pressed her advantage swinging the massive hammer over her head bringing it down with such force and speed the lord of the koopas, who was currently on his ass, barely had time to open his legs to avoid having his knees shattered, then roll back on his shell into a flip to reposition himself in a kneeling position. Before he was able to renew his attack a green fireball struck him in the shoulder from behind almost putting Alexander face first into the dirt.

Without even looking behind him he rolled to the side to get out of the sandwiched position he suddenly found himself in quickly rising to his feet, no sooner had he stood than a searing pain shot through his shoulder causing him to instinctively rip off the shoulder armor that had been struck by the fireball. When he threw it to the ground he saw that the piece of metal was glowing a bright green with his shoulder continuing to feel like it was on fire the entire time, it was then Alexander realized Luigi might not be as second string as he had first thought, the only way for his armor to be glowing like that was if lean and green was lacing his fireballs with magic. It seemed Luigi packed a lot more heat than his older brother in this department. Despite the double team most of Alexander's attention was focused on Daisy and that massive sledgehammer she was wielding, he was about to formulate a battle plan that focused more on the princess than the plumber when he heard a woman's voice yell, "Aiyeeee!" and Gwen seemingly appeared out of nowhere latching onto Luigi's back as she turned into a blaze of swinging claws. Under normal circumstances Alexander would be laughing at this point as Luigi spun around slapping his arms at his back trying to dislodge the little Ninji, but at the moment he was concentrating on fighting a princess who was turning out to be a hell of a lot nastier than he had first anticipated. He was also reconsidering his tactics as he looked at his one handed battle hammer compared to Daisy's two handed mother fucker of a sledgehammer.

"What's the matter sweety, coming up a little short?" Daisy taunted.

With a sneer Alexander flipped her off with his free hand while he shoved the hammer into his shell, pulling it back out he produced a fire flower which he quickly ate causing his snow white hair to turn a deep crimson red. Introducing a fire flower to the mix did seem to keep the hammer wielding princess from attempting a frontal assault, quickly glancing from side to side he noticed that George and Fwyler were some distance behind Daisy engaged with the other two guards as more seamen came out of the surrounding buildings, though Greg and Iggy were still unaccounted for. The fact that Fwyler, slightly taller than Gwen at maybe a foot and a half, was holding his own against a human with spear was impressive. With his arms down by his sides Alexander drew energy into both of his hands forming an impressive fireball in each, with his teeth bared as the light of the fireballs flickered off his face it was enough to make Daisy realize underestimating her opponent could prove to be a fatal mistake. Despite the blows she had landed initially she knew Lord Magnus was nowhere near finished. "My turn," Alexander said with a sadistic grin, drawing back with one hand he hurled the first fireball, then spun in a complete circle to build momentum before hurling the second, with his two largest attacked exhausted he began to hurl a series of smaller fireballs in rapid succession, having been practicing exhaustively since the Battle of Lilliona Alexander's skill with a fire flower had shown drastic improvement. Daisy began a series of back flips as the fireballs seared past making her an elusive target, though none of them struck her directly several of the projectiles burned through the sides and bottom of her dress causing it to catch fire, having kept hold of her hammer with one hand she used other to slap at her dress extinguishing the flames that continued to burn once she stood up, "Ooh, oh, ow, hot!" Daisy said.

The guard that Fwyler had been fighting a only moments earlier was now laying face down in a pool of his own blood when Alexander noticed the little warrior charging Daisy from behind with his bloody claws extended. The princess seemed to hear the patter of the ninji's feet against the ground and looking over her shoulder she swung in a complete circle, as Fwyler leaped into the air at her, Daisy brought her hammer around swinging it like a baseball bat. With a loud 'whud' Fwyler was knocked clear across the compound's open area, tumbling a few times as he hit the ground the ninji wasn't moving. Alexander could tell by the amount of blood on Daisy's hammer that Fwyler had been killed.

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"Well how about that, one less rat to deal with," Daisy said.

Standing up straight as he looked between Daisy and Fwyler a few times Alexander glared at her, then in a completely calm and rational voice said, "I'm going to fucking kill you."

"You're welcome to try," Daisy said.

For his next attack Alexander decided to try a little gambit, holding his hands in front of him he pulled a massive amount of energy into a small area slowly moving his hands apart as the fireball continued to grow in size, when it was the size of basketball he thrust both arms out intentionally launching his attack slower than he could have. When Daisy drew the hammer back like a baseball bat again, he smiled to himself... 'perfect' he thought. There was an audible 'crack' when Daisy's hammer connected sending the fireball back in Alexander's direction, but by the time she had swung he was already charging directly at her. During the training he had undertaken to learn how to control his abilities after eating a fire flower the lord of the koopas had learned, albeit at the expense of being burned and scorched more times than he cared to remember, a new technique of his own. With her hammer still drawn back after the swing Alexander surged forward extending his arm as he adjusted his course so that the projectile would pass him by, as it did he spun in a complete circle slamming his hand into the back of the fireball, pulling it back around in Daisy's direction he hurled it full on into her chest. While it was impossible to catch a fireball and completely stop it, if one was fast enough they could swing it around into a reverse course, the resulting explosion, followed by a scream from Daisy as she flew backwards was music to his ears. Looking down at the hammer she had dropped for a moment Alexander turned his attention to the princess who was laying on the ground motionless about ten feet away from him, what remained of the top of her dress had been blown to pieces leaving her chest exposed. There were also a number of burns on her arms and upper body that looked quite painful, several were already blistering.

"Oooh, nice tits," Alexander said walking up to her.

"Pervert," Daisy said suddenly opening her eyes, placing her hands behind her head on the ground she swung her feet up kicking Alexander in the chin hand enough to knock him down as she thrust her legs up and over, flipping into a standing position. "Come on loser, get up, I'm not done with you," Daisy said. The ever familiar bitter taste of iron in Alexander's mouth told him that last hit had been pretty solid, wiping his lip with his forearm he stood up spitting a mouth full of blood onto the ground, "I'll give you credit for one thing Princess, you are one tough bitch, an attack like that would have leveled most people," he said.

"Well unlike Peach, and don't misunderstand I love the girl to death, I do more than read magic books all day, I get down and dirty in the trenches just like any other soldier," Daisy said. With that the two of them charged at one another with a flurry of quick punches and jabs but to no avail, each appeared to be evenly matched, unable to break the defenses of the other. Alexander was about to start using kicks when a fireball exploded into his back from behind hurling him into Daisy as they both crashed to the ground, pushing himself up on his hands as he pushed through the intense pain he looked down at the princess, "Why princess, I didn't know you liked me that much," Alexander said. Pushing him off with a look of disgust on her face the two rolled away as Alexander saw Luigi standing some distance behind him with several lacerations on his face and his right suspender appeared to be missing completely, the battle scarred Iggy coming up behind him wand at the ready. "That's the second time you've hit me in the back you little green fuck, how... koopa of you," he said.

"Get your dirty hands off her!" Luigi snapped.

Alexander looked between Daisy and Luigi a few times, then started chuckling, "Wait a minute, you mean you two... hey Wedgie, your girlfriend's got nice tits." Luigi let out a loud snarl and was about to hurl another fireball when Iggy stopped, raising his wand. "Luigi, behind you!" Daisy said.

The plumber quickly hit the deck as Iggy hurled a trio of spinning runes at him with his wand, the attack sped past Luigi and nearly hit Alexander before he was able to get out of the way, "Damn it Iggy, watch where you're aiming that fuckin' thing!" Alexander snapped. With that little exchange out of the way the four combatants turned their attention back to their main rivals. With a quick look around the battlefield to check for any other surprises that might be headed his way, Alexander saw there were dozens of guards sprawled across the compound as George and Gwen worked feverishly to keep the seaman in the base at bay. The Hammer Brother was covered with cuts and bruises, but still swinging his hammer at a pair of attackers while the entire upper half of Gwen's suit was missing revealing her pasty white arms and head which were burned in places, likely from an attack by Luigi, yet she was still fighting as if possessed. Alexander's attention was drawn back to Daisy when a ball of ice flew by his head clipping his left ear with a freezing sensation so intense it almost felt like he had been burnt, looking in her direction he noticed that Daisy's hair was now a light blue in color. "How interesting, mind showing me where you had that ice flower hidden sweet thing?" he said. The only response giving was a loud growl as she hurled several more projectiles at Alexander which he easy countered with fireballs causing small eruptions of steam as they collided. Unlike Daisy who was getting pissed, Alexander was enjoying himself, this was the first time in ages that'd he'd been able to fight someone on his level without having to hold back for fear of injuring them as he often did with his brother-in-laws, then an idea occurred to him. Instead of countering the iceballs he spun and twisted out of the way deftly avoiding Daisy's attacks, "Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah, my grandmother's got better aim than that and she's dead," he said holding his hands up to his head and waving them in a taunting motion.

"Oh yeah, dodge this!" Daisy said. Holding her hands out similar to the way he had when he launched the basketball sized fireball earlier, the princess charged her attack much faster hurling it overhand like a baseball pitcher. In one swift move Alexander dove forward rolling under the attack, coming up into a kneeling position he swung his arm underhand slamming a fireball right into Daisy's face causing her to scream and cradle her face as she fell backwards onto the ground. Next he quickly charged another fireball spinning in a circle and with a lightning fast pitch a fireball slammed into Luigi's chest hard enough to pick him up off his feet and send him tumbling backwards as he tried to come to Daisy's defense, "Back off fuck nut!" Alexander snapped with his back to the plumber. With the hellish battle finally starting to wind down he walked over to Daisy as she continued to cover her face with her hands, from the way she way kicking her legs he knew the pain must have been unbearable. "First rule of combat princess, never lose your temper," Alexander said raising a finger, "second rule..." raising his foot he stomped on Daisy's stomach hard enough to that she moved her hands from her face as she began to cough. "Don't fuck with me!" After she had moved her hands away from her face Alexander could see that his last attack had left second, even third degree burns over most of her face, the once beautiful Princess Daisy now looked like a backyard barbeque. He glanced around again to see that most of the seaman were either unconscious, dead, or soon to be one of the two. Luigi was still standing but getting the shit kicked out of him by Iggy, he watched for a moment having never figured Iggy for the kicking type, then winced slightly as Luigi received a kick to the stomach that doubled him over right before a left uppercut put him flat on his ass and out of the game.

Turning his attention back to Daisy who was on her side by now crying loudly he moved her onto her back with his boot and proceeded to stomp on her chest several times. She screamed even louder and when she tried to block his foot with her hands he reached down grabbing her left forearm as he knelt next to her. "You know one of the things I like about my job princess," Alexander asked wrapping his hand around one of her fingers, "I get to show assholes like you what they're really worth." He could already see the look of fear in Daisy's eyes as she knew what was coming, when he twisted his hand snapping her finger she let out a loud scream trying to pull her arm loose with her free hand. "I'm actually not as bad a guy as you think I am, if you want me to stop all you have to do is ask... nicely," he said. Once the initial pain of the broken finger had passed Daisy once again found the strength to spit in Alexander's face. Closing his eyes he wiped the spittle away slowly, then grabbing Daisy's entire hand he pulled her up as he stood twisting his arm around and forcing hers into an unnatural position that snapped both her wrist and upper arm before letting her drop, "Wrong answer bitch!" After Daisy slammed into the ground he flipped over with his foot again and continued stomping on her chest until she began coughing up blood.

"For the love of God stop! You're killing her!" Luigi cried.

With one leg raised he looked over at the bloodied Luigi who was laying on his stomach on the ground, Iggy watched them with a foot on the plumber's back to keep him under control, "Uh yeah, that's the idea, dead princess equals less problems. Don't worry though, you're next ass clown," Alexander said.

"How... could you..." Daisy gurgled through the blood in her throat.

Lowering his foot Alexander smirked a little, "Could you please be a little more specific, I've done a lot shit."

"Lilliona... how could you butcher... all those people... and not feel anything. W... hat kind of... monster... are you?" Daisy asked.

There was a strange silence from Alexander following her last question, even Iggy couldn't understand why he was just staring at her with a blank expression on his face. "You... you think I don't feel anything about that?" he said.

"All those men... women..." Daisy said.

"Hmph, casualties of war, they were in the way," Alexander said.

"...The children..." Daisy said.

At the mention of the children Alexander had killed in Lilliona he tilted head skyward closing his eyes, then nearly every muscle in his body tightened in unison, the expression on his face when he looked back down seemed to be a contorted mixture of fear, pain, and anger, "You don't think I feel anything over that? You don't think I wake up every goddamn day thinking about those children, go to sleep every single FUCKING night seeing their faces when I close my eyes. Well, DO YOU?" he snarled.

"Then... why?" Daisy said.

"Because those mother fucking NTA cunts most killed my daughter! You wanna know why I killed all those people? I'll tell you, I stood there and watched my daughter flat line in a hospital bed because of what Peach's people did to her, it was only by a goddamn miracle that she survived! I killed them because I was angry, I wanted revenge!" then lowering his head Alexander covered his eyes with his hand and cried, "and God help me I got it..." It took time for Alexander to regain control of himself, he wiped the tears from his face and looked at Daisy again, "So you want to bring me to justice? You'd what, arrest me, put on me trial, throw me in jail, make me 'pay' for my crimes? What could you possibly do to me to make my life anymore of a living hell than it already is?" Alexander snarled through bared teeth. "So I beat you, and burned you, and stomped on you, shit like that heals, but this," he said pointing to his chest, "I'll have to live with what I did every goddamn day for the rest of my life! Now say goodbye Princess." Raising his hand above his head Alexander opened his hand slowly summoning a massive fireball watching her fade in and out on consciousness. "Alex, wait!" Iggy said, causing him to look over with a piercing glare. Iggy started to walk toward Alexander before looking at Luigi long enough to point his wand at him, "Move and I'll kill you myself you overgrown drain clog."

While Alexander held the fireball over his head Iggy leaned close to him whispering something into his ear, when he was done he stood there waiting for a response. Blinking a few times Alexander began to smile as he let the fireball dissipate, lowering his arm he pointed to Iggy, "Now that is just plain vicious... I like it." With long confident strides he walked over to Luigi snatching his hat off his head as he leaned down tossing it to Iggy, "There's you go Iggy, now you have a trophy of your own. Looks better on you anyway, matches your skin." The young koopa prince wasted no time in putting Luigi's hat on as he puffed his chest out proudly showing off his new trophy. "You should thank Iggy you know, he's the one who talked me out of killing you and that Ms. Barbeque back there," Alexander said looking at Luigi with a smile, "only because we want you to live long enough to wish you'd died here today."

"What are you talking about?" Luigi said.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough," Alexander said.

"Has anyone seen Greg?" George asked looking around.

"O-Over here," Greg said walking out from behind one of the residential buildings.

"Where the hell were you while everything was going on?" Alexander asked.

"Making sure all the charges where in place, I didn't know how things were gonna turn out so I wanted to make sure if worse came to worse I took this base with me," Greg said.

"Wait a minute, you activates the timers?" Alexander asked.

"Yeah," Greg nodded.

"For how long?" Alexander asked.

"Fifteen minutes," Greg said looking at his watch, "Um... about fourteen minutes ago."

"FUCK!" Iggy yelled, "George, get Fwyler's body!"

In a mad dash George ran to get Fwyler's body while Greg took off on his cloud and the others nearly left a trail of fire getting out the front gate of the naval base. With adrenaline still coursing through their bodies the team of commandos pushed themselves as hard as they could with the strength they had left, trying desperately to put as much distance between them and the naval base as possible. With the team less than four-hundred yards into the desert the night sky was set ablaze in a series of explosions so powerful that even at the distance Alexander and the others were at they were blown clear off their feet by the shock wave that ensued. The group rolled over watching massive balls of fire and smoke curling up into the night, then noticed George laying face down in the sand with Fwyler's body a few feet away, he wasn't moving causing the others to worry that they may have just lost another team member. Iggy was about to go check on him when Greg floated down poking him in the side a few times, the Hammer Brother eventually started to stir lightly indicating that had only been knocked unconscious by the blast. "Greg, you are fucking crazy you know that?" Iggy said.

"What? I'm an aerial scout trained for recon and bombardment, not an explosives expert, it's not like I've actually done this before," Greg said.

"Hey, you think Luigi and Princess Daisy survived?" Gwen asked.

"Don't know, don't care," Alexander said, "wake George up and let's go the hell home." He was about to leave when the radio in his shell crackled again, "Gimme a sitiation report, you blowed up dat shipyard yet?" Roy said. Taking the little black radio out of his shell and looking at it for a moment Alexander tossed it onto the sand next to Iggy and walked away. For the remainder of the walk back to the rally point he stayed about ten feet ahead of the others... and no one tried to bother him. For hours he walked ahead of the others brooding over what he had said to Princess Daisy as he nearly stomped her to death... then paused long enough to think to himself that it was a lot nicer to be the stomper rather than the stomped for once... then went back to brooding. Although he shouldered most of the blame for the massacre he hadn't overlooked the person responsible for giving the order, when he got back to the castle he and his 'boss' were going to have a little discussion about this. There were still enough emotions raging around inside him like a maelstrom it took almost everything he had not to snap again, and what disgusted him the most was the fact that more than he wanted to cry. In a way he hoped that Daisy had died for making him feel this way, though if she had lived through the blast she'd wish she hadn't. The reason he had spared two of his most hated enemies was so that, at Iggy's suggestion, they could see Operation Endgame come to fruition. This way they would be forced to watch everything they cared for, everything they had worked for, and spent so many years defending was turned to ash around them as the Mushroom Kingdom was crushed under the heel of the House of Koopa.

After the massacre of Lilliona the only thing that had kept Alexander going was his family, his wife and daughter were the only things keeping him anchored in one place because as much as he tried to ignore it, push it aside, and pretend it wasn't there the guilt was killing him. Everything he had said was true, killing the men and the woman didn't bother him... that much, but the children... the children weighed on his mind like a crushing vice that he just couldn't dispose of no matter how hard he tried. Now he hated the nuns of Saint James Orphanage more than ever because, if anything, they had somehow managed to drill a conscience into him and it was kicking his ass right about now. The one thing he was thankful for was an ability he seemed to have developed at an early age, setting his emotions aside, that wasn't to say they weren't still there, or demanding his attention, but he was able to distance himself so he could think without his feelings screaming at him with a bullhorn. He didn't know what to do or how to deal with the situation, he knew he couldn't talk about this because of the fact such feelings were seen by the koopa as a sign of weakness, but he wouldn't be able to put this off much longer. The pain and guilt were inside of him was mounting and gaining strength, it wouldn't be long before he was unable to control it at all.

They were sore, tired, and Alexander seemed to be distancing himself from everyone, it was close to dawn by the time Roy and Morton appeared in the distance, the bigger of the two looked like he had been tore up from the floor up, covered from almost head to toe with cuts, gashes, and punctures, yet he was still walking somehow. Morton was laying with his shell against the pipe they were heading for without moving, and Iggy was concerned that he might be hurt worse than Roy until they got closer and he could hear snoring. "Bout damn time, yous know what we had ta go trough tryin' to blow up dat fucking base, den how long we's had ta wait for you-" Roy started to say only to be flipped off by Alexander as he climbed into the pipe and disappeared into the darkness. "Wut crawed up his ass and died?" Roy said looking into the pipe. Walking up next to his brother Iggy looked down in silence for a time before answering, "About thirty-seven children."


	6. Chapter V

Alexander was so angry when he returned to Koopa Castle that he decided it best to put off his meeting with Bowser, lest he say something he wouldn't live to regret. He left the debriefing of the mission to Iggy and went straight to his room without speaking to anyone. Turning out all the lights he closed the window, took his shell off tossing it across the room hard enough to bounce it off the wall, slung the pieces of armor from his uniform in random directions, then stretched out on the bed in complete darkness. There he continued to brood over things trying to figure out how to deal with his feelings, to find a way to resolve this situation before it drove him insane. He already hated himself for what had happened and he knew that there were a lot of other people that hated him as well, the main problem he was wrestling with was that there really was no way to justify what he had done, no logical reason to simply explain away his actions. To say that he was following orders was a superficial, ineffective explanation, he could have well told Bowser no regardless of the consequences and not exterminated the entire population of Lilliona save for one family. He eventually settled into hating the fact he had ever set foot in the town, he eventually gave up trying to reconcile his feelings when the door of the room opened. Alexander glanced over his shoulder from his position facing the wall only briefly to see the silhouette of Wendy standing in the doorway. Still depressed he rolled back over on the bed as she closed the door behind her cloaking the room in darkness once more, the steady clicking of Wendy's high heels as she walked across the hard stone floor was the only sound to be heard in the room. There was a long moment of silence as she sat on the bed near the bend in Alexander's knees. "What's wrong dear?" Wendy asked. Carefully composing himself Alexander sat up next to Wendy and slid his arm around her between her back and shell resting his head on her shoulder.

"Bad day, real bad day," Alexander said.

"What happened?" Wendy asked.

"That fucking Princess Daisy, it turns out this entire fiasco was nothing but a set-up to try and get to me for the whole Lilliona incident. When I got the the naval yard in Sarasaland she, along with Luigi, tried to 'bring me to justice'," Alexander said.

"Well it couldn't have been that bad, they obviously failed," Wendy said.

"Yeah but that cunt dredged up a lot of shit I didn't really want to deal with," Alexander said.

"Like what?" Wendy asked.

"Killing all those people when we attacked Lilliona," Alexander said.

"You regret conquering the village?" Wendy asked.

"No..." Alexander said, he wanted to elaborate further but he wasn't sure how Wendy would react to him regretting the death of Mushroom Kingdom citizens, even children, so he continued to lean his head against her shoulder in silence. "It's the children isn't it?" Wendy asked. Her question resulted in another long silence between the two of them because Alexander wasn't sure where she was going with her question, if she would understand the way he felt, or if she would call him weak and berate his regret. When he had first met Wendy he had considered her to be little more than a shallow, spoiled brat, but the fact she could be so nice, then switch to a vicious bitch at a moment's notice often left him unsure, even now, how she would react to any given situation. Even though he loved Wendy deeply, dearly, as did she to him, her volatile temperament combined with his acquired personality often lead to violent outbursts from the both of them aimed at the other.

"It's okay Alex, Iggy told me what happened," Wendy said.

"It's okay what, to be weak?" Alexander said deciding to take the safer route.

"Just shut up and come here," Wendy said turning to wrap her other arm around Alexander.

Cradled in Wendy's arms Alexander began to let the tears flow freely, yet he still restrained himself from heaving and sobbing. It wasn't out of fear about how Wendy would react, that sprang mostly from his own self-consciousness and desire not to appear weak to himself. Regardless, having someone to hold him while he cried, finally letting out the feelings of guilt and remorse express themselves as they should have a long time ago began to lessen their hold upon him. He wasn't foolish enough to think the guilt would ever fully go away, he truly would have to live with what he did for the rest of his life, but now maybe, just maybe, he would be able to move past this and hell would freeze over before he ever did something like that again. "Why do you love me Wendy?" Alexander asked, it was a question he had asked before, but sometimes it helped to hear it.

"Because of all the screaming, hollering, fighting, and arguing," Wendy said.

"You enjoy the fighting?" Alexander asked.

"Sometimes," Wendy said chuckling a little, "what I mean is even through all of that you're still here, still with me. No one's ever done that for me before."

"Well of course I'm still here, I love you," Alexander said. Even though it wasn't something Wendy could put into words that was something else about him that she was drawn to. For all of his complexity, intelligence, bravado, and charm, there was a child-like quality to him, he was here because he loved her, to him it was as simple as that. "You know I was half expecting you to come in here, kick a high heel up my ass, and tell me to quit being a wuss," Alexander said.

"You want me to?" Wendy said.

"No," Alexander said.

"Well since we're being all touchy feely, why do you love me?" Wendy asked.

"You're beautiful, sexy, sassy, strong, sometimes when I really do need a high heel up the ass to get my head out of there... you're always so willing to help with that," Alexander said.

"You still think I'm sexy huh?" Wendy asked.

"Oh my god, you're the best lay I've ever had, I still get a boner just looking at you," Alexander said.

"Really now?" Wendy asked, slowly sliding her hands down Alexander's back. Now that he didn't seem to want to implode in on himself anymore Wendy was trying to get his mind off the whole Lilliona issue. The fact that he took a deep breath and growled as his back stiffened told Wendy that her little idea was working so she leaned closer whispering into his ear, "You said you liked how big my lips were once, maybe it's time I reminded you why."

Close to an hour later Alexander walked out of his room leaving an exhausted Wendy to get some sleep, he wasn't entirely sure why but he felt better but he did, and not just physically. Somehow Wendy had managed to sooth the pain he was feeling enough that he felt capable of handling it now, it still hurt but at least he didn't feel like he was coming apart at the seams anymore. Now he was going to have a little chat with Bowser since he no longer wanted to rip his head off. For a change of pace he had changed out of his uniform and settled for a plain black t-shirt with blue jeans and sneakers without his shell, he wore his military uniform a lot more than others usually did but that was mostly because it made him feel more menacing... plus third shift room keeping cleaned it every night while he was asleep. He also needed to discuss the situation regarding Sarasaland after the matter of Lilliona was out of the way, so without further delay he made his way through the castle to find Bowser. The other thing he had become accustomed to was having to ask exactly where someone was due to the sheer size of this place, otherwise finding them could turn out to be searching for a needle in a haystack. He was about to inquire as to the king's location when he remembered it was Wednesday, Bowser always held open court for four hours, once a week, to allow citizens to approach him directly with any problems or situations they may have had. Not only did he act as the final authority thereby relieving some of the burden on the legal system, it was good PR.

It didn't take him long to make his way to the throne room as open court should have just been getting underway, he could already hear voices coming from within as he approached. When he exited the left rear hallway as he had done to speak with Alivar, Bowser was sitting on his throne in a courtroom that was packed almost to capacity with species of every imaginable variety. The throne was made of solid stone and sat atop a half circle dais at the back of the room, next to it was a slightly smaller chair which Alexander imagined had once been meant for the original Clawdia, but in her absence Ludwig sat next to his father looking as pompous as ever. He also noted that Larry, Lemmy, Morton, and Bowser Jr were seated on either side of the throne in movable chairs, apparently open court also acted as a forum for Bowser to educate his children in how to administer a kingdom. There was a long royal red carpet trimmed with gold filigree that moved down from the dais and ran all the way to the massive double doors at the other end of the room that sat open, it also acted as a divider for those gathered in court. Several people in the courtroom looked at Alexander as he leaned against the wall at the hall's entrance causing Bowser and the others to look his direction as well. Bowser leaned over saying something to one of the two Hammer Brothers who stood on either side of his throne as guards... as if he needed them, the giant turtle nodded and disappeared down the rear hall opposite Alexander.

That made him curious as to exactly what Bowser was up to when the Hammer Brother reappeared a few moments later carrying a chair similar to the ones Lemmy and the others were seated on, he placed it the right of the throne next to Bowser Jr. motioning for Alexander to have a seat. Alexander blinked a few times then looked around before approaching somewhat hesitantly to take his seat, once seated he not only felt nervous, he also felt out of place. Why Bowser wanted him here he didn't know, he wasn't royalty, for that matter he wasn't even a koopa if someone wanted to be technical about it. He had only just taken his seat when a Shy Guy who looked even more nervous than usual approached the throne and took a knee before the sovereign ruler of the Dark Lands. "Present your case," Bowser said.

"T-Thank you your majesty, my name is Coliar Daak, I'm an architect. I'm here because this is the second month in a row I've been unable to repay a portion of the loan the court gave me last year to help expand my business. I... I've come to seek your indulgence because the court treasurer has threatened to repossess my home and business if I don't make a payment this month," Coliar said.

"Why have you not made your payments?" Bowser asked.

"I'm not trying to avoid repaying the money I owe, I swear. Business has been slower than anticipated because I've been underbid on several contracts by competitors for work in Kooparia... among other places. If I could have just a little more time I promise I'll repay what I owe," Coliar said. Bowser looked to one of a small group of court officials who were gathered near the foot of the dais, the paratroopa, a turtle with a winged shell, stepped forward rifling through a stack of papers he had in his hand, "Mr. Daak has made all other payments up to this point sire, this is the first, and second, incident of non-payment on the loan." There was a short exchange between Ludwig and his father in hushed tones followed by some nodding before Bowser turned back to Coliar, "I am inclined to grant your request for indulgence, but with a stipulation. At the end of this month, and every month following, you shall pay one-hundred fifty percent of what you owe until the overdue amount has been addressed. If you do not, your business, home, and possessions shall be subject to repossession until the full balance of the loan has been satisfied." Coliar only nodded a few times, then approached a court official who was standing only a few feet in front of the crowd, holding a large pad the official wrote something, then took a stamp out of his pocket, stamped the page, and handed it to Coliar.

Alexander found open court to be quite interesting as did Bowser's other children, save for Bowser Jr who looked as if he'd rather have to sit through dental surgery than be here. Open court continued for the next few hours with Alexander intently listening to everything that happened as well as how Bowser addressed each situation. There were disputes over everything from land usage rights, to accusations of theft and dirty business tactics, even small matters such as asking advice on a problem someone was trying to resolve. When court was finally dismissed Bowser announced that he was retiring to his room if he was needed for anything, that was when Alexander decided to broach the situation. He quickly caught up to the sovereign falling into step beside him, still somewhat intimidated by the fact his head barely came up past Bowser's elbow. "Sir, we need to talk," he said.

"About?" Bowser asked.

"Kooparia," Alexander said.

"Has something gone happened I need to know about?" Bowser asked.

"No, it's not about Kooparia itself, it's about how Kooparia was acquired," Alexander said.

"I see," Bowser said. As they continued to move through the castle the two approached a long spiral staircase leading up into a wing of the castle that had been reserved solely for Bowser. Alexander noted that security had been increased for some reason, there were a lot more Boom Booms and Hammer Brothers than usual, though he turned his attention back to Bowser as they topped a platform at the end of another set of stairs, the single door in the wall leading to his bedroom was also made of steel rather than wood. He motioned for Alexander to enter as he opened the door, the room was obviously the largest of any living quarters in the castle and it was the first time he had seen his father-in-law's room in decent lighting. Stepping inside he also noticed that the large square room seemed to be set up for two people, a large canopy bed was situated in the center of the room against the far wall and seemed to act as a divider. The right side of the room was where all of Bowser's belongings were placed, a large armoire against the wall next the bed, a massive nightstand against the right wall where he had a number of things such as cologne, deodorant, combs, and other personal hygiene items, next to that was what appeared to be a small small wet bar with a small refrigerator in the cabinet below. After a quick double take he also noticed a picture of Clawdia on Bowser's nightstand.

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There was other furniture such as a table with chairs in the center of the room, and a large book shelf, but what caught Alexander's attention was the left side of the room. It was easy to tell it had been designed for a woman, the dresser had a large oval mirror attached to it with a stool in front, an armoire next to the bed similar to Bowser's, a few wooden chests that were painted pink, and on the far side of the nightstand against the wall was a table with two chairs and a chessboard. The pieces on the chessboard were arranged in a way that made it look as though a game were being played, yet everything on the left side of the room was covered in a fine layer of dust, as if it hadn't been touched for years. Out of the corner of his eye Alexander noticed Bowser remove his shell which immediately drew his attention, it was the first time he had seen his father-in-law without it. He wasn't to surprised to see that Bowser's build underneath his shell matched the rest of his body with a large chest and well developed abdomen, though it was taking considerable effort on his part not to snicker at the 'whitie tighties' his boss was wearing, they came up higher than normal due to accomidations for his tail, but never the less they were easily recognizable. After placing the shell on a stand next to his armoire specifically designed for it, Bowser opened the armoire removing a large green silk robe, closed the doors, and dressed himself cinching the belt around his waist. Moving to the wet bar he opened the cabinet above the counter removing a tumbler glass, then removed the stopper from one of several square glass bottle pouring himself a drink, the deep brown liquid reminded Alexander of whiskey though he wasn't sure.

"Drink?" Bowser asked.

"No thanks," Alexander said having already taken a seat at the table in the middle of the room. Taking the glass in hand Bowser also removed a cigar from a box on the counter before he walked over to the table taking a seat opposite his son-in-law, swirling the contents of the glass he lifted it to his nose inhaling slowly, then sipped it before looking up. "Now, what is it you wish to discuss?" Bowser asked.

"I think we both know what I want to discuss," Alexander said.

"Yes, the massacre, it bothers you having killed all those people. To be honest I expecting this particular conversation to be broached earlier than this," Bowser said. He bite the tip of the cigar off putting the end in the pocket of his robe, Alexander was curious how he was going to light it until Bowser snapped his fingers and a small flame appeared at the tip of his index claw reminding the young man he was also a powerful magic user.

"Yeah well, the men and women I killed, I'm still not happy about that but I can deal with, the kids... how could you order me to do that, how could you order me to murder children?" Alexander asked.

"To set an example. During times of war and conflict it is expected cities and towns will be attacked, that people will die, but to assault a member of the royal in the way the Northern Toad Alliance did, that is an act that will I will not tolerate in fashion. They needed to know that," Bowser said.

"You used me damn it, you used me rage, my anger, and you set me on a town of innocent people like a wild animal," Alexander said.

"Yes, I did," Bowser said.

"That's it, that's your entire explanation? Yes I did?" Alexander asked.

"Alexander, when you rule a kingdom the way I do, there are times when you must appear to be unwaveringly strong, even vicious and vile, so that your enemies will know there are certain boundaries which they must not cross lest they face the most dire of consequences. This was one of those times. To show mercy, compassion, or allow a select group of individuals to survive would not have communicated that message. The massacre of the people of Lilliona was a nasty business and it wasn't something I'm proud of either, but it had to be done, you were the only one capable of something like that at the time," Bowser said taking a few puffs from his cigar.

"With all due respect that seems to be a rather asinine explanation, if I recall you were once quite fond of kidnapping Princess Peach and trying to force her to marry you," Alexander said.

"Yes, yes I was, but there's a difference." Bowser said taking another sip of his drink, "That was an attempt to claim rulership of the Mushroom Kingdom through political marriage, I never once assaulted the princess, infected her with deadly virus, or otherwise mistreated her." Alexander sat there for a time looking at Bowser because as much as he hated to admit it he was right in that regard. There was a difference in kidnapping someone for political reasons than there was trying to turn someone into a biological weapon against a hated enemy. "Well either way I won't do that again. You can exile me, throw me in jail, kill me, it doesn't matter, I'll never do anything like that again... ever." Alexander said.

"I don't imagine you would. I knew it was a 'one trick pony' as they say, when I ordered you to do that," Bowser said.

"Do you realize the shit I've been going through because of that, what it's been doing to me?" Alexander asked.

"Tell me, do you think you're the only one who's suffered because of this?" Bowser asked.

"What do you mean?" Alexander asked.

"What about the other soldiers, the one who carried out my orders as well, you're not the only one who suffered because of what happened there. In the month following the attack on Lilliona five of the soldiers that fought there that day committed suicide, and many of the others still attend counseling and support groups to help them deal with their feelings of guilt," Bowser said.

"And you're okay with that?" Alexander asked.

"How I feel is irrelevant, it needed to be done and it was. Also I would like you to start attending open court every Wednesday," Bowser said.

"Uh... why?" Alexander said.

"For the same reason I gave you a large degree of administrative control over Kooparia. Once the Mushroom Kingdom is conquered it will be divided into eight separate kingdoms to be administered by my children in my stead. While Wendy shows a desire to rule, I have a feeling much of the duty of administering the mundane affairs that often come with such will fall to you, as she has shown little patience for such things," Bowser said.

"Okay, I assume Iggy told you about the situation at the naval yard," Alexander said.

"Yes, he informed me of your encounter with Luigi and Princess Daisy as well as the outcome," Bowser said.

"Do you think that warrants a response?" Alexander said.

"Considering what he told me of outcome of your encounter, as well as the high probably that the both of them perished in the explosion I would say that communicated the message sufficiently," Bowser said.

Afterwards he stood from his chair and walked out of the room effectively ending the conversation. He still wasn't happy with Bowser's explanation but knowing that he didn't plan to ask him to do something like that again at least put him at ease, had another such order ever come to him it would have caused a lot of problems when he refused it. Now that the situation had been addressed he turned his attention to other more amusing matters, mainly his appearance on the Interview Tonight special. He had some free time before the inevitable response to that fiasco came down the line so his new destination was the office of Minister Tolik, Bowser's personal aide and probably the one individual that knew more about the king than anyone else outside the royal family. Due to the duties that his job entailed his office was located close to the throne room to allow him to attend to Bowser more effectively. When Alexander approached the door to Tolik's office he rapped on it several times with his knuckles. "Come in," a voice said. Alexander opened the door to the office and stepped inside to find the short, yellow robed magikoopa searching through one of the drawers in his desk. For the king's personal aid his office was surprisingly small, and sparsely decorated. There was a polished wooden desk with a quartette of filing cabinets against either wall in pairs of two, some photos on the wall, and some plastic potted plants, that was it.

"Ah, Minister Tolik, would you happen to have the contact information for Alivar Tad?" Alexander asked. Without even looking up Tolik opened a drawer on the other side of the desk placing a small card in front of him before he went back to his rummaging. "If you don't mind me asking what are you looking for?" Alexander asked, noticing Tolik looking rather flustered.

"My glasses," Tolik said.

When Alexander stopped and thought about it Tolik did look a little strange without his glasses, as he approached the desk to pick up the card the sound to glass being crushed underfoot caused the both of them to freeze instantly. "Fuck," Alexander muttered as he looked down moving one foot, sure enough Tolik's glasses were laying on the floor with one side completely destroyed, picking them up he set the pair of destroyed glasses on the desk next to the card, then with a quick apology he left. The small white business card had Alivar's name, and profession printed on the center of the card with two contact numbers on the bottom when it occurred to Alexander that he didn't have a cell phone, nor had he seen a phone in the castle, save for the lower levels which would be a hell of a walk from his current location, even Wendy used a cell phone.

"Crap, of all times to not have a cell phone," Alexander said.

He was about to head back to his room to use Wendy's cell when a hand popped up offering one out of the corner of his eye, when he turned the offering hand happened to be attached to a patrolling turtle guard who had apparently overheard him grumbling. "You sure? I don't know if it's a local call or not," Alexander said.

"It's cool, I'm on the Koopamobile plan, I pay a flat rate fee rather than per minute," the turtle said. Taking the phone Alexander dialed one of the numbers on the card, after three rings the line picked up.

"Alivar's Tad's office, how may I help you?" a female voice asked.

"Yes this is Lord Magnus, Mr. Tad contacted me the other day about wanting to do an Interview Tonight special, I'm calling back to work out the specifics on that," Alexander said.

"Most of the details have already been worked out, we do still need to go over some paperwork though, just standard forms. If you could drop by the office later it would only take a few minutes to get everything in order," the woman said.

"Where are you located?" Alexander asked.

"Right now we've rented a space in the KNN building, are you familiar with it?" the woman asked.

"Yes, I'll be over in a few minutes," Alexander said, after that he closed the phone handing it back to the guard. KNN, a.k.a. Koopa News Network, was the largest news network in the Dark Lands and a little hard to miss considering the large red, back-lit, KNN letters over top one of the largest buildings in Bowseria. Although Alexander still wasn't entirely signed on the idea of doing an interview he also needed the money, the two main reasons were to pay off some of those damned credit card bills Wendy was raking up because he was determined to show that he could support his family, the other was to help jump start Clawdia's college fund which actually fell into the same category as the first.

After an uneventful walk to the KNN building Alexander stepped through the large glass double doors leading to the lobby, the large rectangular room was made of an expensive dark ash wood, in this case it referred to the rare ash covered trees that grew in that Dark Lands. The short, dark red carpet complimented the room giving the entire decor something of a gothic feel, in the center of the room was a human woman seated behind a large circular metal desk busily answering phones. As he approached the red-head she glanced up at him, "Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm here to speak with Alivar Tad," Alexander asked.

"Third floor, studio six," she said pointing to one of the two elevators behind her at the back of the room. Alexander made his way to the elevator on the left pressing the up button, a short time later the doors opened to the sound of a small ding announcing the arrival of the elevator car. Several individuals, two Goomba, a Ninji, a Birdo, and a Wiggler all wearing press passing and chatting casually among one another stepped out walking around Alexander as he entering into the elevator. The doors closed soon thereafter and he pressed the button for the third floor, the elevator lifted off taking him to his destination, he watched as the lights above the door lit up to indicated the floors the elevator passed, when the light for floor three was illuminated the elevator stopped. With another ding the doors opened allowing him to step out into a long hallways, which to Alexander's surprise, was made of glass. It allowed him to see into the various studios he passed, some of which were in use. There was a female turtle sitting behind a news desk speaking into one of the cameras to his left, while a pair of Charging Chucks were seated behind another desk discussing, imagine that, football. There were other studios that were darkened, then as he passed the wooden walls that divided the rooms he saw a large number of Mushroom People moving about indicated he had found the studio he was looking for.

The room was set-up similar to what you see for most talk shows, there was a large round table in the center of the interview area with two chairs set facing each other from either side, there were what looked like three large bleachers being assembled for a live studio audience. Alivar was standing the the middle of the room pointing in various directions, and giving orders as others moved about carrying out their various duties. In the process of giving orders he noticed Alexander standing outside watching and motioned him in with a big smile on his face. Upon stepping into the studio Alivar walked up to looking Alexander over with a peculiar expression, "Boy the make-up department is going to have their work cut out for them, you get into a bar fight or something?" Alivar asked.

"No, but I did get hammered, so what other details need to be worked out," Alexander said stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Just the usual forms, contracts, medical questionnaire, working out an air date since I released the media announcement last night, things like that," Alivar said.

"Why do you need a medical questionnaire?" Alexander asked.

"About ten years ago a guest on Million Coin Mayhem had a seizure because of the bright lights in the studio, after being sued we added a medical questionnaire to the standard forms," Alivar said, then motioned to the Mushroom woman Alexander had spooked in the anteroom in the castle, "Julie, bring me a copy of contract agreements." While they waited for the contracts to be brought Alivar motioned for Alexander to have a seat at the interview table.

"So tell me," Alivar said as they sat down, "you ever been on television before?"

"Nope," Alexander said.

"Alright, it's not that complicated really, I'm going to be asking you questions about your life, how you came Mushroom World, about your service to Bowser, things of that nature," Alivar said. Alexander nodded quietly, then when Julie walked up to the two of them she was so scared she was visibly shaking, without warning he looked at her as he threw his hands into the air, "Ooga booga booga!" In response she screamed and ran away throwing the paperwork over her head as she fled, another of the workers came over quickly collecting the papers and placing them on the table before returning to other duties. "Do you mind?" Alivar asked, looking more annoyed than angry. "Not at all, but I'll behave, promise," Alexander said leaning forward to look over the papers. While the was flipping through the various papers to look them over Alivar took a pen out of his vest and placed it on the table, when Alexander was satisfied that everything was in order he began to sign, filled out the medical form, and after seven separate signatures he sat back in his chair. "Lovely, so when do you think you'll be available for the interview?" Alivar asked.

"Well, that matter I mentioned the other day has already been taken care of, how about tomorrow?" Alexander asked.

"Two in the afternoon?" Alivar asked.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Alexander said. He leaned forward extending his hand and Alivar shook it sealing the deal.


	7. Chapter VI

"Good evening ladies, gentleman, and other species. Welcome to Interview Tonight, I'm you host for the evening Alivar Tad and tonight we have a very special guest making his first ever appearance on our show. He has been called many things by many people, hero, patriot, role-model, terrorist, monster, and psychopath, regardless of he may be viewed his name is bound to cause heated debates and conversations all over Mushroom World. He is best known for leading the campaign against the former town of Lilliona, several skirmishes within the Mushroom Kingdom, clashing with Mario himself, and for causing general mayhem and chaos, please give a warm welcome to tonight's guest, Lord Alexander Franklin Magnus." After finishing his introduction Alivar stands as Alexander walks out from behind the curtain backstage, with a smile he looks to the audience and waves. Instead of his usual black leather uniform for tonight's event he chose a solid black three-piece business suit with red tie, slicked his hair back, and was again without his shell choosing to emphasis his human aspect as the koopa connection was already well established. Because the interview is taking place within the Dark Lands the reception was a warm one, filled with cheers, clapping, and loud whistles, after a few bows in several directions Alexander walks over to the soft black leather chair set up for the show's guest and takes his seat. The plain round wooden table in front of them is empty save for two half filled glasses of water and a pitcher between them, once the applause dies down Alivar looks to Alexander with a broad smile, "Welcome Lord Magnus and thank you for joining us tonight."

"Glad to be here," Alexander said with a nod.

"Let's start from scratch, where were you born?" Alivar asked.

"The Bronx, New York, Earth," Alexander said.

"So you're not native to Mushroom World?" Alivar asked.

"That's correct," Alexander said.

"For the record what is your full name and title?" Alivar asked.

"Lord Alexander Franklin Magnus, terror of the Mushroom Kingdom and right hand of Bowser, king of the koopa and sovereign ruler of the Dark Lands," Alexander said.

"And who is Mortimer Klurvis Gravalski?"

"My father," Alexander said.

"What does he do?" Alivar asked.

"Well he normally holds to being a geneticist, but he also holds degrees in biology, bio-engineering, chemistry, and neurology as well as acting as scientific adviser to King Koopa," Alexander said.

"Sounds like a smart guy, and your mother?" Alivar asked.

"Aleha Donovan," Alexander said.

"What does she do?" Alivar asked.

"I don't know, she was never a part of my life. See my parents were never married," Alexander said taking one of the glasses from the table he sipped the water as he looked out over the studio audience, "for that matter they were never really an item, I just kinda happened. After I was born my father was left with the responsibility of raising me." Even though he had pointedly avoided mentioning the fact that he was a clone he hadn't technically lied about his past. Aleha Donovan was the name of a woman who had donated eggs to the lab where Mortimer worked for research prurposes, and his father had used one of those eggs in the cloning process. It was also true that neither of them had ever actually met her.

"Do you have any siblings?" Alivar asked.

"I had an older brother who was also named Alexander," Alexander said.

"And his profession was?" Alivar asked.

"He used to work at a steel mill on Earth, at least that's what father told me. My brother passed away some years before I was born," Alexander said.

"Where did you grow up?" Alivar asked.

"The Saint James Orphanage on Earth," Alexander said.

"So Mortimer is your adoptive father?" Alivar asked.

"No, he's my biological father. He had to give me up for adoption when I was a baby because he wasn't able to raise me on his own. I tracked him down about six or seven years ago, that's how we met," Alexander said.

"What was life like growing up in an orphanage on Earth?" Alivar asked.

"It sucked, mostly horse -bleep-, loads of guilt. The orphanage I grew up in was run by the Catholic Church and they tried to drill it into the heads of the children every day that we're evil, awful, mean sinners, damned to hell, etc, etc, and that God, a deity figure on Earth, was our only salvation. I don't think it would have been so bad if they didn't try to make us feel guilty simply for being human and having human feelings. Almost everything according to them was evil if it wasn't directly related to God and serving him, love, hate, pleasure, anger, pretty much anything if you didn't spend every waking moment kissing God's ass... really hated those women," Alexander said taking another sip of his water.

"So what's it like growing up on Earth in general? Sources tell me that humans are the only sentient species on your world?" Alivar asked.

"Yes, humans are the only sentient species on Earth, obviously I can't speak for everyone, but for me... pretty horrible... pretty horrible. I was never really allowed to be myself, I was always being criticized by the nuns, picked on by the other kids because of my hair and if they could see me now I think I'd tell them... burn in hell you lousy -bleep- I hate you all," Alexander said.

"Now before this broadcast we asked your wife some questions and she told us that one of your proudest moments was a party you threw when you left the Saint James Orphanage?" Alivar asked.

Alexander actually started to laugh a little when he remembered what Alivar was referring to as he scratched the side of his head lightly, "Oh wow... uh yeah. The day I left I walked out the front door, light up a cigarette, not that I actually smoke it was mostly just to piss everyone off, and threw some condoms at the nuns telling them to loosen up. Hooo... haven't thought about that in years."

"Where did you go to college?" Alivar asked.

"I didn't, I don't hold a degree of any sort," Alexander said.

"Tell me about Sycamore Cable and how you came to work for them," Alivar said.

"Sycamore Cable? Well there's really not a lot to tell, I got a job at Happy Burger when I was sixteen so I could save up the money to move out of that damned orphanage when I turned eighteen. I got the job through a friend of mine at the time named Trevor Banahm, he was a cable installer for the company as well. I trained with him until I was ready to go out on my own," Alexander said.

"My next question is something I'm sure our viewing audience is curious to know, tell us Lord Magnus, how did you come to the Mushroom Kingdom?" Alivar asked.

"Warp pipe, obviously... uh... random pipe. I was trying to repair a damaged cable line under a house, it had gotten caught on one of the support beams. I was trying to pull it free when the line snapped and I fell backwards into a pipe that had appeared under the house where I was working," Alexander said.

"That's how you met your wife?" Alivar asked.

"Yeah, landed in her bedroom actually, did a face plant into the floor at about ninety miles an hour... not a pleasant experience," Alexander said.

"So was it love at first sight?" Alivar asked.

"More like scream at first fight, she accused me of being sent by the Mario Brothers to steal her things, called for the guards, and drew a wand on me," Alexander said sipping some more water.

"So tell me, is it true what Princess Wendy told us? That you actually went toe to toe with King Koopa himself when he told you to stop dating her and... you actually cursed at him?" Alivar asked.

"Yeah, hehe, turns out he was testing me and all that, to see if I was worthy of dating his daughter," Alexander said.

"What exactly did you say to him?" Alivar asked.

Standing up from his seat Alexander cleared his throat setting his glass on the table next to him, then striking the same pose in the direction of the camera he stood there just as he had when Bowser had first confronted him years ago reenacting the confrontation from his point of view, "You know what you overgrown lizard, I don't give a -bleep- what you think and further more -bleep- YOU! I made Wendy a promise to be there for her and I don't care what gets in my way, Stinit, plumber, koopa, or even you. You want me to stop seeing Wendy then why don't you haul that shell of yours over here and make me!" After that little outburst that caught Alivar off guard and caused the audience to let out a small collective gasp he returned to his seat, "Pretty much that," Alexander said.

"What happened next?" Alivar asked in surprise.

"What do you think happened, he brought his shell over there and stomped a mud hole in my -bleep-, literally, he actually stomped on me several times, broke ribs, I mostly remember blood and pain, lots of pain," Alexander said.

"Speaking of your wife, many people have described her as mean, violent, vicious, self-centered, materialistic, and greedy, what attracted you to her?" Alivar asked.

"The first time we had sex was shortly after I had come to the Mushroom Kingdom, she actually came to me much to my surprise. What attracts me to her, wow, uh, her figure, her aggressiveness, she's good in bed, she doesn't take shit off anyone. She's a very strong woman who takes what she wants when she wants it... including me... and I, uh, I think that's the main thing beyond simple physical attraction, her strength. The whole inter-species thing also kinda adds that extra flavor to things too," Alexander said.

"You have a daughter?" Alivar asked.

"Uh yeah, Princess Clawdia Wendy Koopa, she just recently turned six," Alexander said.

"And what's she like?" Alivar asked.

"The best damn kid a father could ever want. She's also hyper, very hyper, if it wasn't for my career keeping in me such good shape physically that kid would run me ragged. Honestly I don't ever remember being that energetic at her age," Alexander said.

"Clawdia isn't just an interest to our viewers because she's the first in the next generation of the House of Koopa, but she's also the only koopa/human hybrid modern science has ever heard of, tell us about that," Alivar said.

"Oh um, well it's kind of complicated, see... under normal conditions a koopa, and I mean the species not terms used for Dark Land citizens, and a human have about as much chance of having a kid together as someone does of shooting a snowball through hell on a bright summer's day. It stems from the fact humans are part of the primate family and koopa are reptilian. Apparently my pitching arm was in good condition as you might say, because Wendy and I beat the odds and had Clawdia. It wasn't easy though, the pregnancy was hell on Wendy, she almost miscarried a number of times, then Clawdia was born prematurely. On top of that her own biology almost killed her because she was born with two different blood types, but Prince Ludwig and my father put their considerable intellects together and helped her make it through," Alexander said.

"Tell us about your hair, is it natural?" Alivar asked.

"How'd I know you were gonna to go there," Alexander grumbled, "Yes and no. Yes, in that I was born like this, I don't do anything to my hair to make it this way. No, in that it's the result of a genetic defect, I have no gene for hair color."

"How did you come to work for King Koopa?" Alivar asked.

"He told me I was," Alexander said causing a small laugh to ripple through the audience, "seriously though, he did tell me I was working for him. I didn't want to at first but telling him no... well not really something I was, or even still am too keen on really," Alexander said.

"Why did you agree to work for him? Why not run away on your first mission, what was it that kept where you were?" Alivar asked.

When asked that particular question Alexander lowered his head thinking for a time, "The power mostly, the prestige, the money. I was being offered things in life I likely never would have been able to attain on Earth and it was all about me at first."

"You said at first, have things changed since then?" Alivar asked.

"Oh absolutely. I have a wonderful wife, a daughter, a family, now I do what I do to provide a future for them," Alexander said.

"On the subject of my next question, there have been raging debates for decades on both sides of the argument in regards to your employer and father-in-law King Koopa. He's been condemned as a tyrant, villain, and evil, just as much as he's hailed as a heroic monarch, military leader, and 'the koopa's koopa', when you think about King Koopa what comes to mind?" Alivar asked.

"Don't -bleep- with him," Alexander said causing the audience to laugh again, "seriously though, what a person thinks of King Koopa really depends on where you're coming from. Of course the Mushroom people label him negatively, he's trying to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, but on the other side of the border people love him. He protects his citizens, invests money in projects to improve the quality of their lives, provides for their needs, it's about perspective really. When I think about King Koopa what comes to mind is strength, determination, an unbreakable will, ambition, intelligence, cunning, he has all of the qualities needed to make a fantastic leader, which he is to me. Also if you look back through the history of Earth or Mushroom World you'll see most kingdoms and loyal bloodlines, were formed at the tip of a sword so to speak. It's not uncommon for nations, kingdoms, or nobles to take what they have by force and lead with strength of both character and military. It's happened in the past, it still happens today, and it'll happen in the future." Alexander said.

"Does it bother you the amount of lives lost in the numerous conflicts between the two kingdoms, especially the conquest of Lilliona which has been referred to by many as the bloodiest and most violent conflict to ever occur between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Lands," Alivar said.

"The loss of Koopa life yes, as to the Mushroom people not really. I don't know them, I honestly don't care to either, distancing myself from those I fight helps in that respect. How I see the loss of life for them is uh... they know King Koopa is trying to conquer their land and the two kingdoms have been at a state of either semi-open or outright war for decades. They... they know it's dangerous to live there and that any point we may show up and attempt to conquer them, people die in war, it's an unavoidable fact. Lilliona..." Alexander began to rub his temples at this point, the mention of the massacre was obviously causing him a lot of discomfort, "I don't like to discuss that, I carried out my orders, next question."

"Let's move on to your career. What exactly do you do in your work for King Koopa? What's your job description?" Alivar asked.

"Whatever he uh, tells me to do, it's a physically demanding job but I'm in the best shape of my life because of it. When I was originally hired by King Koopa it was designed to scare the -bleep- out of the Mushroom People mostly, Princess Peach has the Mario Brothers protecting her kingdom so King Koopa felt it was time he had a human on the payroll as well. My duties have expanded considerably since then you know, I also handle a lot of work concerning internal security, military campaigns, it's a... it's a large area really," Alexander said.

"Do you hold an official military rank?"

"Technically no, my duties and responsibilities often times fall outside the normal command structure of the military, although I have commanded soldiers in the past in a quasi-general capacity," Alexander said.

"Many people around Mushroom World are aware of the fact that after making a very powerful first impression during the Stinit War you disappeared shortly thereafter. Where did you go for five years?" Alivar asked.

"Oh that, uh... I can't talk about it, it's considered a matter of internal kingdom security and it's still classified," Alexander said.

"In an interview I did with Princess Peach last year I asked her, 'How do you view Lord Magnus?' and she said quote; 'He's a depraved, murderous, criminal with no conscience. He's one of the worst things to ever come out of the Dark Lands in as long as I can remember.' How do you respond to that?" Alivar asked.

"Thank you?" Alexander said looking around and leaning forward in his chair as the audience burst out into laughter, "I'm serious, if that's what she thinks of me then it means I'm doing my job. I wasn't hired to make friends, especially with the Mushroom people and that... princess of theirs."

"As I asked that of her, I ask you, how do you view Princess Peach Lord Magnus?" Alivar asked.

"She's nothing more than a stuck-up, sanctimonious, self-righteous, -bleep-. If it wasn't for the Mario Brothers she wouldn't even have a kingdom anymore, she's weak, inept, and always relying on others to do the things she's too afraid or ill-prepared to do herself," Alexander said.

"Oh ho ho, that's some strong language in regards to the princess Lord Magnus," Alivar said looking to the audience as a number of them whooped and hollered in support of his description. Alexander just held his arms out and shrugged, "I call'em as I see'em."

"Now I had some other questions regarding events surrounding the conquest of Lilliona, mainly the battle of Lilliona between the armies of Princess Peach and King Koopa, would you be willing to talk about that?" Alivar asked.

"Depends, you can ask but I won't guarantee that I'll answer," Alexander said.

"The main question I'm sure is on everyone's mind is the fact that you defeated Mario himself in single combat, the one person that has been a thorn in the side of the Dark Lands for as long a people can remember. He's gone one on one with King Koopa himself more times than I can count. How'd you do it, what's your secret?" Alivar asked.

"It wouldn't be a secret if I told you now would it? There was a lot of intense training involved though, a lot of training and preparation," Alexander said with a grin. He also puffed his chest out noticeably and looked directly at the camera, "That's right, I kicked Mario's -bleep- and sent him running like the punk -bleep- that he is, and I'll do it again if I have to." After that the crowd of Dark Land citizens almost broke out into a full riot cheering and clapping for Alexander, the outburst lasted for several seconds and when the mayhem finally died down he looked back to Alivar with his head held noticeably higher.

"Another raging debate among the people of Mushroom World is if you were actually trying to kill Mario that day, were you?" Alivar asked.

"Absolutely, during the battle the attack that polished off that overgrown plunger actually knocked him some distance away from me, if those little Mushroom goons of the princess hadn't hauled him off so fast he'd be six feet under right now," Alexander said.

"You have his hat hanging in your room correct?" Alivar asked.

"Yes, such a lovely sight to wake up to each morning." Alexander said. The last part about trying to kill Mario was a complete lie considering he almost killed himself during that battle, but the show was great exposure for him and he was going to play it up as much as possible.

"What is the greatest achievement of your life so far?" Alivar asked.

"My daughter, despite everything else in my life, the money, power, prestige, everything I have, all the crap that I own... which actually isn't that much now that I think about it, it doesn't mean anything compared to my baby girl. It's one of the most incredible things a person can ever feel, to bring a life into this world, it's... it's unlike anything else. It's also one of the biggest responsibilities I've ever taken on, the challenge of raising Clawdia, of loving her, caring for her, protecting her from the dangers of life. She's the prettiest little thing I've ever seen too, but I am biased in that respect of course," Alexander said.

"What is your worst fear?" Alivar asked.

"Failure, failure to be a good father, to fail in my duties to King Koopa. That's my worst fear," Alexander said.

"What is you greatest desire?" Alivar asked.

"That one should be fairly obvious, to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom," Alexander said.

"Who or what has been the greatest influence in your life?" Alivar asked.

"The House of Koopa actually, King Koopa and my wife of course, but the others as well. Ludwig, Roy, Lemmy, and the rest of the koopa princes, they've all shown me what it means to be a koopa, how to be a koopa. They were instrumental in helping me to become who and what I am today and King Koopa has given me a direction in life," Alexander said.

"What do you do in your spare time, hobbies, things of that nature," Alivar said.

"When I actually have free time... mostly I spend time with my family, especially Clawdia. I like to work out, gotta keep fit. Let's see, running, climbing, I really enjoy physically exerting activities I think that's another thing about my job that I enjoy," Alexander said.

"Do you miss your life on Earth? The daily grind of a normal life without all of the seemingly constant danger and excitement?" Alivar asked.

"No, before I came here to Mushroom World I didn't really have a life so to speak. I was mostly just drifting, taking things a day at a time, going to work, eating dinner, paying bills. I wasn't even really living, I was just existing, going through the motions. There was no passion, no desire, no real ambition because I hadn't found anything to stir my soul yet," Alexander said.

"Alright, and our last question of the evening is brought to us by a Keth Vordis of the Beanbean Kingdom folks. Mr. Vordis would like to ask: 'What is it like inside Koopa Castle?' Lord Magnus?" Alivar asked.

"Hot, hot and spacious. As I've said before Koopa Castle is like a small city in and of itself, there's an armory, infirmary, gymnasium for working out, it's just massive. When I first arrived in Mushroom World I was constantly getting lost and having to ask for directions. There are also a lot of people, mostly servants, advisers, soldiers, and functionaries but there's always something going on somewhere, it's the castle that never sleeps," Alexander said.

Alivar turned to the camera after Alexander had finished speaking and smiled, "Well you heard it here folks, the life and times of Lord Magnus of the Dark Lands. I would like to thank our guest for joining us tonight and all of you out there in Mushroom World for tuning in," leaning forward he held his hand out to Alexander who shook it and nodded, "As always our guest has proven to be quite entertaining and insightful. I invite you to join us next time when we interview another individual of interest, whoever or where ever they may be." Alivar continued to look at the camera with his broad smile until a few seconds later when one of the camera operators held his hand up, "And we're out," he said. The cards in Alivar's hand were tossed on the table as he let out a loud sigh and took his large hat off, "Well, how was it?" he asked.

"Different, I've never done an interview before. Mind if I ask you some questions?" Alexander asked.

"Shoot," Alivar said taking the glass of water from the table and sipping it.

"Where were you born?" Alexander asked.

Alivar looked over at Alexander and smirked a little, "Boy you really don't watch much TV do you? Toad Town, Kingdom capitol."

"Any siblings?" Alexander asked.

"Ten, five older, five younger," Alivar said. Alexander's eyes widened slightly and he tilted his head to the side at the mention of such a large family, "Well we know what your parents did with their free time."

"Hah! That they did," Alivar said.

"How old are you and how long have you been in television?" Alexander asked.

"Fifty-eight and thirty-nine years come next month," Alivar said.

"Fifty-eight? You were around before Bowser became king of the Dark Lands," Alexander said.

"I was around before your boss was even born," Alivar said.

"Really, what was Morton like?" Alexander asked.

"He was intelligent like King Koopa, but he seemed more focused on money than conquest. He was always trying to cook up various ways to scam other kingdoms. Quite the tightwad from what I've been told, he taxed his people heavily and didn't invest much in return, he wasn't as popular as his son is now," Alivar said.

"How long have you been doing this show?" Alexander asked.

"This show? About thirty years, I only interview about one person of interest per year, keeps the material fresh and the ratings up. I host game shows normally," Alivar said.

"Who all have you interviewed?" Alexander asked.

"Oh gosh, almost everybody, Mario, Luigi, Wario, Clawdia, Princess Daisy," Alivar said.

"Whoa whoa whoa, you interviewed Wendy's mother?" Alexander asked.

"Yeah uh..." Alivar looked down scratching his head, "twenty... five years ago I wanna say."

"Could I get a copy of that interview? I have a wedding anniversary coming up and that would make the perfect gift," Alexander said.

"Sure, follow me," Alivar said as he replaced his hat and took another sip of water before setting the glass on the table. Most of the studio audience had already left by this time, the crew was cleaning up and breaking down the set as Alivar waddled off stage with Alexander in tow. They walked down a small white hallway with several doors where other Mushroom People working behind the scenes were going about their business, some of them were wearing headsets while others held small clip boards, none seemed to pay either of them much notice. Alivar walked to the end of the hall opening a door that lead into a room filled with metal filing cabinets, cardboard boxes, and a few tables piled up with folders and boxes too small to place directly on the floor. It took the host a moment to locate the filing cabinet he was looking for as he milled about the room looking at the various labels identifying the contents of each drawer, he finally pulled one of the bottom drawers open. Alexander could hear the small clicking of plastic containers as he stood by the door until Alivar finally held up a small CD in a clear container, "There we are." Being part of this interview had not only been great for exposure for Alexander but it had also produced an extra unexpected bonus, trying to think of an anniversary gift for Wendy was a real pain in the ass because she had one of damn near anything someone could possibly imagine, especially jewelry. Taking the little jewel from Alivar, Alexander smiled, "Perfect, thanks," then put the CD in his pocket.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Alivar asked as Alexander turned to leave. When he turned around he was the Mushroom host holding a check in his hand.

"Oh shit, don't wanna forget that," Alexander said.

"Thinking about your family so much you forget about money? Good way to go Lord Magnus, that'll take you far," Alivar said as he handed off the check.

In retrospect Alexander was glad he had decided to appear on Interview Tonight, he walked out of the building through the front of the entrance, stepping outside he was immediately bombarded by an explosion of camera flashes as most of the audience that had been in attendance mobbed him from nearly every direction. For a split second he thought it was some sort of attack until he saw dozens of pads and pens being held out to him, it was then he realized that they were fans wanting his autograph. For the next half hour he signed autographs, took pictures with fans, and just enjoyed the sudden fame that had seemed to find him as a result of the show, the truth was he was enjoying the limelight. Things finally began to calm down after he had written his name so much his hand was starting to cramp, he even answered questions from reporters about plans to renew attacks on the Mushroom Kingdom or the Mario Brothers, though he kept the answers vague enough so as to not speak for Bowser on something that may or may not have existed so far as the general public knew.


	8. Chapter VII

Two days after the Interview Tonight special Alexander was laying in bed next to Wendy, though awake he laid there with his eyes closed just enjoying the morning and the feel of his wife curled up next to him. He had taken care of preparing Clawdia for school that morning letting Wendy sleep in, so now he was just loafing around for once. Things around the castle had been a lot more tense ever since the Sarasaland incident as everyone expected something to happen in light of Alexander possibly killing Princess Daisy and Luigi, and that news came in the form of a knock at the door. Wendy stirred lightly in bed as her husband made it to his feet in a pair of black silk boxers, crossing the room he opened the door to see a magikoopa standing there, "King Koopa has summoned you, he's waiting in the dining hall," he said.

"Tell him I'll arrive shortly," Alexander said closing the door. He had a fairly good idea that this had something to do with his recent actions as the summons had come before breakfast which was held at eight sharp every morning. Moving to the dresser next to the bed he took out a pair of black cargo pants, a gray tank top, and a dark blue open front shirt, once dressed he slid on a pair of brown leather shoes, combed his hair, and made his way out of the room. His body made several loud snaps and pops as he stretched, chasing away the remaining sleep from the previous night he scratched the back of his head as he walked through the halls of the castle. He had nearly reached the dining hall when he saw a turtle servant walking out holding a tray with a coffee pot, stopping the servant he instructed him to get another cup and bring him some. Bowser was seated at the head of the table with several opened letters in front of him when Alexander walked in, he was in the process of reading one when his son-in-law sat down in a chair next to his left, "What's up boss?"

"I feel that Mr. Tad was correct when he said that you have made quite a name for yourself since arriving in Mushroom World," Bowser said.

"What, was the response that bad?" he asked. Placing the letter on the table in front of him, Bowser looked up as the servant brings Alexander his cup of coffee, "Never before in the history of the conflict between the Dark Lands and the Mushroom Kingdom have they threatened to declare war on us," Bowser said.

"Wait a minute, you're saying blondie and the fungus squad are threatening to declare war on us?" Alexander asked as he sipped his coffee.

"Indeed they are, I received a letter via courier early this morning. Princess Peach has condemned our attack on Sarasaland as using excessive force for the situation at hand. They have also demanded that I turn you over to them as restitution for the attempted assassination of Princess Daisy and Luigi. If we don't comply then by eight o'clock tonight their declaration of war will go into affect and they claim they will seize you by force," Bowser said.

"If that fucking whore so much as sets one foot in the Dark Lands I'll kill her myself," Alexander said. In truth he was concerned that he amount of violence he seemed to be causing whereever he went would eventually reach a point where even Bowser didn't want him around anymore. The lack of an immediate response also made him a little worried. "Uh... I'm not causing too much trouble for you am I?" Alexander asked.

"What are you talking about?" Bowser asked.

"Well, ever since I started working for you, you've had to field a lot of political shit because of me. I'm not causing too many problems am I?" Alexander asked.

"Not at all, you've actually proven to be more of a boon than I ever expected," Bowser said.

"Really, I thought you'd be pissed off because won't this declaration of war mess up... you know... the plan," Alexander said, not wanting to openly discuss Operation Endgame.

"No, in fact this will only further enhance the effectiveness of 'the plan' which I will explain at briefing I have scheduled for after breakfast," Bowser said.

The rest of the royal family was already filtering into the room and platters of food were being set on the table so Alexander thought it best to wait for the meeting after breakfast. The family assembled and began to eat breakfast but it was different, the normal feeding frenzy atmosphere seemed subdued, there wasn't as much excitement as normal as it was something Alexander had noticed for some time now but he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was. Members of the family exchanged glancing from time to time as they ate until finally Bowser stopped, wiping his mouth with a napkin. When he stopped eating so did everyone else, Alexander wondered what he was up to as it was very odd indeed for such a thing to occur once a meal had started, then he noticed Bowser was looking over at the chair Clawdia normally sat in for breakfast. Because of her schooling she ate breakfast before everyone else and had to be at school by eight o'clock meaning the princess no longer attended breakfast with the rest of the family. "All those in favor of moving breakfast to seven o'clock?" Bowser said. Everyone at the table raised their hand, once the matter was settled everyone returned to eating. There was the normal five minute intermission after breakfast to let all the food settle before Bowser once again made his was to the war room, someplace Alexander found himself more and more lately, to discuss the morning's developments. As always Bowser waited until the door had been secure to begin.

"I've called this meeting to discuss a new development in the campaign to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. As you are all aware we recently attacked and destroyed the two primary naval yards of Sarasaland during Operation Hamstring, while this was designed to prevent them from being able to offer military assistance to Princess Peach during our invasion it has had an unforeseen side effect. During the mission in Sarasaland I learned that the attacks on our cargo ships were in fact a ruse by Princess Daisy and Luigi in an attempt to draw out and arrest Lord Magnus for the massacre at Lilliona. As you can plainly see the attempt failed, never the less it has enraged the Mushroom Kingdom to the point that, for the first time in the history of this ongoing conflict, they are threatening to declare war against us," Bowser said. The last part of the statement caused a hushed murmur to ripple through the small crowd.

"Why would the Mushroom Kingdom threaten to declare war? We've been trying to conquer the Kingdom for over two decades, why now?" a Hammer general asked.

"Because Princess Daisy didn't just fail to arrest me, by the time I got done the bitch looked like a backyard barbeque," Alexander said.

"Indeed," Bowser said, "the Mushroom Kingdom has claimed that Lord Magnus attempted to assassinate Princess Daisy and Luigi during their encounter. They have demanded we surrender him by eight o'clock tonight otherwise their declaration of war goes into effect."

"What? Fuck Princess Peach, that stupid whore," Wendy snapped.

"Actually it's not a bad idea, I'll surrender," Alexander said. There was a drop dead pause as everyone in the room looked at Alexander, even Bowser seemed surprised by the suggestion. "With all due respect Lord Magnus, are you out of your mind?" a Goomba general asked.

"No, not at all. Let's think about this for a minute, the kingdom is expecting us to refuse their demands. Right now they're preparing for war, if I surrender to them it will throw them totally off-balance. If Bowser claims I've become too destructive and that my rampages are causing him too many problems when I surrender, they just might buy it," Alexander said.

"To what end?" a magikoopa general asked.

"To the end that once we launch Operation Endgame their attention will be drawn to us, not Lord Magnus..." Bowser said, "I think I know where he's going with his."

"See, he's catching on, once Operation Endgame begins to unfold the Kingdom will be in so much chaos," Alexander chuckles a little, "do you really think Mushroom Guards can keep me under wraps?"

"Now that is indeed a most interesting proposal. If Lord Magnus were to break out of jail during Operation Endgame, the damage he alone is capable of causing would be incalculable," Ludwig said.

"Dad, if we let the Mushroom Kingdom declare war and march their forces we could annihilate them. The only way into the Dark Lands is from the southern border, the other three sides are surrounded by mountains. If we met them with the home guard when they approached, then gave new orders to the three units deployed the farthest north in the Kingdom during Endgame, they could engage the Kingdom forces from the rear and throw them into disarray," Bowser Jr.

"A very astute observation, but you're forgetting the port to the north of the castle, what about deep canyon?" Bowser asked.

"I didn't forget, you built a thirty foot tall defense wall with double layered iron gates," Bowser Jr said.

"Indeed, hmmm, both plans bear considerable merit," Bowser said scratching his chin.

"Okay I may not be a rocket scientist here, but I think Alexander surrendering is a bad idea. I mean think about it, the Kingdom is probably ready for both outcomes. Don't you think they'll have a cell prepared just for him and his brand of violence?" Larry asked.

"I agree," Lemmy said, "they've been after Alex long enough they're probably prepared to deal with how violent and destructive he can be. I say there's more risk than return involved."

"That's also a valid point, it's one thing to face an enemy on the field of battle, but another altogether to face them in their stronghold. I believe Larry and Lemmy are right in that the risk outweighs the return, opinions?" Bowser said looking around. There seemed to be a general consensus among everyone in the room that Alexander's plan was too risky. "Very well, I believe Junior's plan will serve best in this instance. If the Home Guard engages the Kingdom army near the southern border and the three northern most units deployed during Endgame are reassigned to strike from the rear I believe that will give us our best outcome." Bowser said.

After several more minor options were reviewed and rejected the meeting ended, as everyone began to leave Alexander noticed Wendy still standing by the table. Wendy normally looked as though she was perpetually pissed off about something but now it appeared to be even more so than normal so Alexander walked over to her, "Babe, you okay?" he asked. She waited until everyone else had left the room, then hauled off and slapped Alexander hard enough to leave scratch marks on his cheek, "Have you lost your fucking mind? Surrender?" Wendy yelled.

"What the hell, it was an idea, it got rejected anyway," Alexander said, taking a step back as he held his cheek.

"That's not the point! What if the idea hadn't been rejected, what if you surrendered and couldn't escape, what then? What about me, what about your daughter?" Wendy snapped. Alexander was about to make a rather scathing remark when he realized that Wendy was right. His job was already dangerous enough without him willing walking into enemy territory without having a fool proof plan to escape, and his idea hadn't provided that. It relied on his ability to be destructive to escape from the most heavily guarded place in the Kingdom, while he had shown a penchant for destruction even he wasn't unstoppable. "I... I'm sorry Wendy, I didn't think..." Alexander said, looking away. Wendy wrapped her arms around him laying her head on his chest, "Well start thinking you idiot, I don't wanna lose you," she said.

It wasn't until later that night that Minister Toadsworth arrived at Koopa Castle to hear Bowser's decision, naturally he was sent home empty handed, but he vowed that Alexander would be brought to justice one way or another. The Dark Lands army spent much of the night mustering and preparing for war as was the Mushroom Kingdom army most likely. The Home guard was deployed along the southern borders with a pair of Ninji every two miles to act as scouts to warn of other approaching units. Mortimer, Ludwig, and several assistants had spent the entire day after the morning meeting implanting the soldiers with the Hyperwave Encoders. With the main army broken down into nineteen separate units for deployment during Operation Endgame they prepared to deploy the following morning, some by land, some by air, others by sea, and due to their relatively small size, some were prepared to use the castle's pipe room to reach their destinations. Their mission wasn't to destroy the cities or towns of the Kingdom, it was to sow chaos and confusion to the point that Princess Peach and the Mario Brothers wouldn't know what was happening until it was too late.

"Well, this is it," Alexander said, looking at Wendy as they sat on the edge of the bed in their room.

"What's it daddy?" Clawdia asked. Situated in the middle of the room the young koopa princess was surrounded by toys that she had spent to last hour playing with. Her parents both looked at her not wanting to say exactly what was going on, they both knew if they told Clawdia they would be going to war tomorrow she would be scared. "Mommy and daddy have somewhere special to go tomorrow. Now pick up your toys, it's time for you to get ready for bed," Wendy said.

"Can I come too?" Clawdia asked.

"No baby, it's just for mommy and daddy," Wendy said.

"Probably gonna go somewhere to kiss and stuff, yech," Clawdia said as she started to pick up her toys. With several dolls held in her arms she looked up at Wendy, "Mommy, why doesn't it take long when I get a whoopin, but when daddy whips you it takes forever and I gotta leave the room?" Clawdia asked. That question caused Alexander to start snickering while Wendy blushed visibly looking between her husband and daughter. "Baby girl, there are some questions you shouldn't ask... hehe, now pick up your toys and get ready for bed," Alexander said. After Clawdia had cleaned up her toys and taken them to her room her father took a few minutes to read her a bedtime story while Wendy tucked her in. After she was all tucked in Alexander got his daughter a glass of water, then turned on her night light to make sure no monsters would get her. Motioning for his wife to follow he walked further up into the residential wing until the both of the reached an upper balcony. There they both looked out over not only the castle, but Bowseria and a vast portion of the Dark Lands as well. The twinkling lights of the capitol at night was a beautiful sight, a kingdom that was soon to become an empire. Alexander had no doubt that once Bowser conquered the Mushroom Kingdom he would turn his sights to other lands as well, Sarasaland, the Beanbean Kingdom. He knew that one day the Dark Kingdom would become the Dark Empire when the whole of Mushroom World came under Bowser's control.

"Feeling sentimental dear?" Wendy asked.

"I've always liked the view here, it helps me think," Alexander said.

"Think about what?" Wendy asked sliding her arm around Alexander.

"I was thinking, Bowser's going to divide the Mushroom Kingdom into eight smaller territories, one for each of his children, how do you feel about that?" Alexander asked.

"I think it's about time, I wanna get out and spread my wings a little. I wonder where our territory will be," Wendy said.

"I'd imagine an expansion of the area around Kooparia, since I already help to administer the town it would make since. I imagine Ludwig will want Rogueport," Alexander said.

"Why?" Wendy asked looking at Alexander.

"It's a port just like Kooparia, having a town with a port means more taxes, therefore more money," Alexander said.

"I like money," Wendy said. It took most of Alexander's willpower not to pop off with a smart ass remark about that, yet he didn't want to ruin the mood. Wendy was so temperamental her being this calm was rare, she was either being nice to him when no one was looking, or she was her usual bitchy self. It was in this quiet time that he stopped to think, he began to wonder why he hated Princess Peach and the Mario Brothers so much because in truth they'd never done anything to him. He was actually the one who had done a lot to them, having attacked them, their cities and villages, killed their people, so what was it that made him so hostile towards them... it was the power. Ever since he had started to work for Bowser he had been accorded a level of power and authority he never could have achieved back on Earth, and they stood in the way of him achieving even more power and prestige, it was addictive... and he liked it. The right to command others, to have them fear and respect you, do as you tell them when you tell them to do it, he was beginning to understand the point of view that power was an end unto itself.

"Do those Mushroom morons really think their military can stand up to ours?" Wendy asked.

"Princess Peach isn't stupid Wendy, I have no doubt she's got some sort of surprise in store for us. I also have no doubt that they'll reinforced by soldiers from Sarasaland, we may have destroyed their naval yards but they can still move soldiers through the pipe network, it's a slow process but I anticipate we'll still face a number of Daisy's soldiers," Alexander said.

"Yeah well those dicks are in for a big surprise, the Goomba Prime's are gonna rip them a new asshole," Wendy said.

That was something else that really surprised Alexander, he knew his father was held a degree in bio-engineering, but those Goomba Primes were something else, they made the regular Goombas seem tame by comparison. The coming conflict was also going to be brutal because it would likely draw the vast majority of Mushroom World into this conflict, the Dark Lands, the Mushroom Kingdom, Sarasaland, the only one not involved was the Beanbean Kingdom. They had a strong standing military but it was on the same level as the Kingdom, and therefore wouldn't fare well in a war of attrition. The other thing Alexander had been considering was the fact that Mario would likely have a serious mad-on for him considering the near death of Luigi in Sarasaland. It was hard enough fighting that damn plumper to start with, but a full blown pissed off Mario didn't bode well for him, especially without the nexus powers that had allowed Alexander to defeat him at Lilliona.

"Babe, you look worried, what's wrong?" Wendy asked.

"I am worried, I almost killed Luigi in Sarasaland and now we're about to go to war with the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario's gonna be pissed and coming right for me, I'm going to need to find a way to defeat him otherwise he's probably going to kick my ass," Alexander said.

"You have got an advantage, me," Wendy said, "we'll just stick together when the fighting starts that way if he does come after you we'll overwhelm him together."

With a smile he pulled Wendy closer to him, she laid her head on his shoulder as they looked out into the night. That was something he really did love about Wendy, despite the fact she was spoiled, bitchy, stuck up, pompous, and greedy, it was comments and remarks like that that reminded Alexander just how much she really did love him, along with the lengths she'd go to in order to protect him. To a degree he also thought it was because she loved to rub him in Peach's face, they'd run into each other a time to two in the past at politically neutral events. Wendy would prance around with Alexander on her arm making it a point to show Peach her ring, her family, and rub in the fact she was married as well as a mother, and the Kingdom's princess wasn't either. Bowser along with everyone else in the Dark Lands assumed at the Kingdom would attack tomorrow morning, at least if they had any brains they would, otherwise Bowser would launch an attack against them likely doing even more damage in the process.

"Come on honey, we should get some sleep, tomorrow's going to be a busy day," Alexander said.

After their little introspective moment Alexander and Wendy retired to their rooms to sleep, they knew the morning would bring pain, blood, and death. It was interesting to note that the lord of the koopas slept well that night, even with the knowledge that many people would die the following morning he knew that most of them would be Mushroom people. The koopa people were prepared for this conflict, because of the Kingdom's 'honorable' ways the Dark Lands had no fear of their people or towns being attacked, only military targets would be threatened, regardless the town guard of all southern settlements had been reinforced by what military forces could be spared, however sparse they were. Things were beginning to shape up for a conflict of a magnitude equal to the Stinit Invasion now almost seven years past. The following morning Alexander sent Clawdia to spend some time with her grandfather who never seemed to tire of her, then before breakfast he and Wendy made love in their room as a way to kick off what they both considered to be the start of a glorious day. Unlike most places where war was a solemn and dreaded event, spirits were running high around the breakfast table, there was even several very vocal conversations which was rare. The entire time Alexander remained quiet, his thoughts were still turned inward towards himself and his family.

On his way to breakfast Wendy had let appearances slip by not only holding his hand, but she had also smiled, not a sneer, or devious grin, and actual smile. The change had surprised him considering how much she seemed to have a disdain for public displays of affection aside form a small kiss on the lips. That was something else Alexander had noticed, when he had first met Wendy their relationship was rocky to say the least, plagued by temper tantrums, bouts of depression, and incredible displays of anger there were times he wasn't sure if they'd make it as a couple. She had truly pushed him to his limits and early on there were several times he had considered breaking things off her, after rejecting those considerations he had stayed the course and in the end Wendy's personality seemed to have started balancing out. She was still a cruel, violent, vicious, spoiled, and greedy bitch, but with the birth of her daughter followed by their marriage the depression and anxiety slowly began to disappear. During another moment of quiet introspection when Alexander had stopped running his mouth for five minutes to actually think, it occurred to him that a lot of Wendy's problems seemed to have started with the death of her mother Clawdia, this followed by Bowser's emotional withdrawal from everyone around him was likely the source of many of his wife's problems. She had tried, and failed, to fill the emotional void in her life with money, false friends, and material possessions which, in the end, had only made things even worse.

As always, breakfast was a complete feeding frenzy even though there was more than enough food to go around, Alexander let Clawdia sit in his lap and eat off his plate again, even though that was another habit Wendy was trying to break her of, but on this one occasion he let things slide. Breakfast had just come to an end and the royal family was taking a small respite to allow the food to settle when a hammer brother came dashing into the dining hall.

"Your Majesty, we're under attack!" the hammer brother said.

"Already? Boy Peach is pissed," Larry said.

"It's not Peach, it's Morton!" the hammer brother said.

In that instant everyone looked over at Morton who held his hands out palms up, "What? I'm right here!"

"Not junior, senior!" the hammer brother said.

As soon as those words came out of his mouth the hammer brother not only took off running, all of Bowser's children immediately slid back in their seat distancing themselves from their father. Alexander wasn't sure what was going on but he followed suit never the less. For a time Bowser just sat there seemingly staring straight ahead, soon small wisps of fire began to flicker out of the sides of his mouth, then like a volcano he exploded. With a massive roar he stood up slamming his fists into the long diningroom table hard enough to reduce the front end to little more than splinters as plates and silverware flew through the air before crashing to the floor. "Let's go, NOW!" Bowser growled. Everyone in the room was obviously unnerved by the outburst, he yet again caused everyone in the room to jump as he opened the door to his left that lead into the hall by means of kicking it off its hinges. The door slammed into the other side of the wall in the hall with a massive crunch as wood gave way to stone, and the King of the Koopas stormed out. The others quickly followed, afraid to anger their father any further, Alexander walked up behind Morton placing a hand on his shoulder and whispering, "What's the deal with Bowser and his father?" Morton waited until the others had filtered out of the room before bringing up the rear at a distance.

"I don't know to be honest, but I've an idea." Morton said in a low voice, "I asked dad once but he won't talk about it, so I starting asking around. From what I can gather it has to do with death of grandmother Alexia."

"Bowser's mother?" Alexander asked.

"Yeah, dad was really close to his mother. After she died the relationship between dad and grandfather became increasingly hostile to the point he eventually deposed and exiled him." Morton said.

"Bowser blames his father for the death of his mother?" Alexander asked.

"It would seem that way," Morton said.


	9. Chapter VIII

Half way over the western horizon, the sun spilled its golden rays across the verdant green fields of the Mushroom Kingdom at the start of what, under normal circumstances, would have been a beautiful day. However, on this warm spring morning, circumstances were anything but normal. The report by the hammer brother that the Dark Lands were under attack, would have been more accurate if he had said they were about to be under attack. Moving through the kingdom from the south, Morton Koopa Sr. had not only returned, somehow he had managed to rally an army with which he sought to lay siege to Bowser's domain. In response to this the King of the Koopas had rallied the entire armed forces under his command, save for the home guard, and had begun marching them south to meet his father. In an uncharacteristic change, Alexander wasn't wearing his black leather outfit, of for that matter his shell either. Dressed in nothing cargo pants, a tank top, and open front shirt similar to the other morning, except that his entire outfit was black, he had recently been experimenting with a new style of fighting. The spiked shell that he normally wore weighed a little over forty pounds and had taken time for him to get used to, but after his body had adjusted to the change and built the muscle mass to compensate, he had noticed that without it he was considerably faster.

The steady footfalls caused by the massive koopa army as they marched south into the Kingdom echoed through the field with thunderous results in the calm of the early morning. In ten by ten columns they moved as two rows of ten, two thousand strong. This was the largest army Alexander had ever seen Bowser bring to bear since he had come to Mushroom World, that wasn't even counting aerial, support, or long range magikoopa units. By this world's standard, this army was utterly massive. The one thing that had always amazed him was the ferocity with which the military fought, to most of them, this wasn't just a job, or a career, it was a commitment they took dead seriously. The loyalty they showed to Bowser, despite the opinion of him that other kingdoms might have, was truly incredible, they were willing to fight, kill, and even die if he commanded it. Where many might think the loyalty was born out of fear, it wasn't. Time and time again Alexander had seen Bowser tending to his sovereign duties as a king should, working diligently to manage his kingdom and see to the welfare of its people. There were even the occasional instances where he invested money in projects solely for the enjoyment of his citizens, and they loved him for it. Now to have someone come and threaten everything they had, their very way of life, Alexander had seen some of their as they had prepared for battle, and they were angry, they were angry and they wanted to hurt somebody.

The anger displayed at hearing of the return of Morton Sr. truly made Alexander wonder what could have happened to make a son despise his father so much. In the distance the first sign of Morton and his army came into view, a thin black line, as the two opposing forces continued to march towards one another. For almost twenty an hour they continued on in silence, with the entire House of Koopa at the forefront of the army, as they closed the distance bring Morton's army within view, Alexander blinked a few times as he got a good look at them. The scout dispatched to ascertain to location of this hostile force had reported that the force was comprised of what appeared to be both Kingdom and Dark Land citizens, but the description was far from accurate. These weren't just Mushroom People, or Goombas, the force brought to bear against Bowser looked like a macabre mockery of Mushroom World inhabitants. Twisted and distorted almost beyond recognition the enemy marched en mass rather than in column formation, a grotesque gathering of elongated limbs, deformed teeth, and misshapen body. Though the most disturbing part was likely their stares, there was no hatred, anger, malice, or spite in their eyes, in fact there was nothing at all. When both sides finally came to a stop the forces under the command of Morton Sr. stood their staring vacantly as though they didn't even know where they were. Worst of all his army was nearly a match for Bowser's.

"Uh... Wendy... those guys aren't dead are they?" Alexander asked, leaning over to speak in a whisper. Wendy arched a brow curiously as she drew her wand from her shell, then passed her hand over her eyes causing them to change from their normal blue to a solid blood red. "They're giving off body heat so I'd imagine not." That was a considerable relief, the last thing Alexander wanted to do was end up having his life turn into an episode of Resident Evil. For what seemed an eternity father and son stood there staring at each other, the malice between the two was thick enough to cut with a chainsaw, especially from Bowser. The soldiers were starting to get restless, having seen the faces of their enemy the ranks of the Dark Land army begin to shift in place and whisper among themselves. Ludwig snapped his fingers caused a bright flash of light, and what almost sounded like a small clap of thunder, "Stand fast!" he said, drawing the soldier's attention to him. Bowser and Morton were almost identical in both height and build which lead Alexander to think, this battle was gonna get nasty. The most distinguishing feature about Morton aside from the visible age different was that he had not hair on his head at all, unlike Bowser who was well known for his thick, feiry red head of hair.

"When I banished you all those years ago, I told you I would kill you if you ever returned," Bowser said.

"Now now my dear Bowser, it that any way to talk to your father?" Morton said. What caught Alexander's attention wasn't Morton's deep bass voice, that he expected, but there was an odd flanged quality to it, with what sounded almost like tiny whispers repeating everything he said.

"You are not my father, he died a long time ago," Bowser said, raising his arm to point a finger at Morton, "you are but the dim faded memory of a bygone era, you have no place here anymore."

"We'll see about that," Morton said. With everything they had to say out in the open, the koopa who was once king of the Dark Lands issued a roaring battle cry, thundering across the field the enemy moved forward as a single unit. Bowser reacted in kind charging forward with the full force of the Dark Land military behind them, the two armies slammed into one another with crushing force, like two massive ocean waves crashing into a cliff. Alexander was nearly overwhelmed by the initial wall of teeth, claws, and limbs that came surging at him, but with the help of Wendy, the soldiers behind them, and the fire flower he had eaten during the short exchange, they began to push back. The one thing the husband and wife team had learned was how to compliment each other in battle, while Wendy erected a barrier in front of the two of them, holding the enemy at bay from one side while allowing attacks to pass through from the other. Alexander hurled a relentless barrage of fireballs at the hideous creatures as they tried to scream and claw their way past the invisible wall in front of them. Time and time again he would strike one of them down, burning many so badly the tore troe away entire sections of their body, yet for every one that fell, two took its place. Like mindless beasts they slammed themselves against the barrier, some with such force that bones could be heard snapping from the sheer force of impact. When the strain of maintaining the barrier started to become too much for Wendy they switched tactics, Alexander used a trio of large fireballs to ignite the grass under the feet of the enemy. After Wendy lowered the barrier this would end up burning anyone who tried to attack them.

They were both taken somewhat aback by how readily Morton's soldiers charged through the fire to try to get at them, even with knee high grass consumed by flames they continued to charge forward, an attack that may well have succeeded were it not for the soldiers fighting with them. When the enemy tried to overrun them as a whole, the company of turtles armed with spears, met the attack head on. The first row of turtles came forward enveloping the two, then dropped to one knee burying the butt end of their spears into the ground as they angled them upward, the second row tightly packed behind the first leveled their spears forward. With the rows beyond the second armed with longer spears, Wendy and Alexander quickly found themselves protected by a classic phalanx wall with bristling spears four rows deep. It became obvious then that the military was not only trained for more than wild melee attacks, they were also skilled in protecting the royal family. Most of the soldiers in the phalanx formation, including Alexander and Wendy, were splattered in blood as the enemy threw themselves against the spears with wild abandon, and soon the soldiers were forced back under the sheer crush of mounting bodies that threatened to start snapping their weapons.

Fighting with the turtles was getting a little too cramped for Alexander, so as Wendy unleashed bursts of magical energy into the surging enemy forces, he slammed a fireball into the face of one of the vile creatures in front of him. The heat of battle was picking up, especially with Bowser and his father trying to pound one another into the ground with fist, claw, and magic. Even though Alexander preferred long range combat, he was also skilled in close quarter combat. One of many clawed hands moving about tried to swing down on him as he moved further toward the from line, catching the long, gnarled limb that was attached to a citizen of the Kingdom, he slammed his other hand into the elbow snapping it with easy. Next he pulled his opponent forward turning into them as he hurled the thing over his shoulder, slamming to the ground in the middle of a crowd of opposing soldiers it was quickly, and repeatedly stabbed by six different spears. The strange looking Goomba that looked almost like a miniature, retarded Goomba Prime was easily stomped on, followed by a turtle that tried to bite Alexander in the face. The attack missed as its beak snapped shut with and audible 'clack', Alexander grabbed the thing's head, with a sharp twist of his hands its neck easily snapped.

Seemingly melting out of the crowd a large hammer brother clamped down on his forearm with its beak, this caused Alexander to let out a loud yell of pain a both bones in his forearm snapped. He felt the creature trying to bite all the way through, so he in turn clamped down on its face with his free hand sending sheets of fire tearing across his enemy's face. This, combined with several turtles stabbing the thing when they saw one of their commanders in trouble, caused the creature to rear back in pain before it died, releasing Alexander's forearm. Covered in blood, one of the bones had torn through the skin on his forearm, the other remained twisted, and hidden inside. The pain was intense, but by now he was used to pain so it didn't overwhelm his senses, though in this condition he couldn't continue fighting. With his arm soaked in blood from wrist to elbow he looked around, then quickly grabbed a spear from as fallen soldier as he pulled back. Using Koopa magic to heal a wound like this would take hours, hours he didn't have. The main line was already beginning to waver under the relentless assault, even with Bowser and all of his kids in battle, so he would have to settle for 'field repairs' for the time being.

Once he was between the front and rear line, he looked around motioning to a magikoopa, who was lobbing magical attacks into the enemy ranks, to help him. When the magikoopa saw the condition of his arm he immediately stopped what he was doing and ran over. "Can you set broken bones?" Alexander asked. The mage nodded, so he set the spear on the ground snapping off two sections roughly even in length, placing one in his mouth he held his arm out. With his arm in the other's hand the magikoopa nodded to him, and with a loud crackling Alexander fell to one knee almost biting through the spear piece as one of the bones was reset causing the other to shift around. The second was the final straw, when reset it caused him to yell out on pain, though it was almost completely downed out by the sound of battle, "FUUUUCK!" Alexander said, before gritting his teeth, "stop... the damn bleeding." The warm sensation that flowed over his arm as the magikoopa touched the tip of his wand to it, was able to take the edge off the pain. It took almost three full minutes for the bleeding to slow enough that it was no longer life threatening, after that Alexander didn't bother to wait for the rest, pulling his arm back he removed his tank top and threw it at the makeshift medic. Picking the spear pieces up off the ground he held him in place on either side of his arm while the magikoopa used the tank top to tie them in place.

It wasn't pretty, or fancy, but it was enough for now. He carefully tested the crude splint, flexing his fingers one by one. Everything still hurt considerably, but it was holding and not causing more pain than he could focus past. His next concern was soon laid to rest when he tried to channel a small amount of fire energy through his arm, he was surprised to find that the broken bones and seeping blood didn't seem to affect it... much. It was harder to pull energy through his arm, but all in all he would still be able to use it for long range attacks, via fireball. He would have to be careful though, there was still a lot of pain, and moving his arm too quickly or at the wrong angle, it would no doubt hurt like a sonuva bitch. The thing Alexander was grateful for the most was that it was his right forearm that hand been broken, not the left, fighting offhand would have complicated the situation even further than it already was. The complication came in the form that he had to use what was left of the spear and shaft, and hold it like a dagger, hand to hand fighting with only one arm would have been incredibly difficult.

Alexander was about to renew his assault when he saw Bowser hurtle backwards being used as a battering ram to smash through the front line of his own troops. As soon as the front line was broken the enemy began trying to pour through, as a mass of bodies they tried to wedge their way through the column in order to divide the soldiers. Breaking away from the soldiers he was fighting with Alexander began making his way toward the gap to help reinforce the line as Bowser recovered from Morton's attack. It was obvious that he wasn't the only one with the same idea, before he was able to reach the breach Roy jumped from his position, opposite Alexander, several yards away to attack his grandfather. In a single motion Morton swung one massive arm hammering Roy like a one would do to cast aside an insect, an attack that sent him in Alexander's direction so fast the Lord of the Koopa didn't have time to react. In an instant he felt Roy slam into him shell first pinning him to the ground under his immense girth and immediately began to go into shock, his body had been pierced by several of the spikes on the koopa prince's shell to the point he was beginning to fade in and out of consciousness.

It was as if he had been repeatedly stabbed and in his delirium he could feel pain from at least four wounds to his torso, two to his left leg, and one to his left bicep. His breathing was strained and raspy, his chest convulsed, and his mind was threatening to shut down on him, he knew his body was panicking. Forcing himself to fight past the pain and shock he raised his good arm sliding his hand across his chest, even though he couldn't see clearly he knew the thick sticky substance running over his skin was his own blood. "Help... me..." Alexander said. The pain nearly almost him to black out as he rolled himself over, feeling the flow of blood from his body shift with him. Reaching down he felt his side, as he did his mind started to panic as well, one of the spikes had punctured his kidney... he was bleeding out and doing so quickly. Trying to crawl along the grass his strength began to fade, he only made it a few inches before collapsing as he began to lapse into unconsciousness, the last thing that registered in his mind was a hand grasping his shoulder, then everything faded into darkness.

"...happened to him..."

"...don't...in a field..."

"...attacked..."

"...massive bleeding...almost died..."

The faint sound of distant voices began to filter into Alexander's mind, at first the sounds were stored into memory without any conscious recognition as his mind hung on the precipice of sleep and awareness. Slowly the sound of people talking began to register bringing his mind closer and closer to the surface, like a swimmer trying to surface from an immense ocean of darkness. His senses began to gradually spread through his body as consciousness returned, soon he could feel himself breathing again, his chest rising and falling, the steady sound of his heart beating, a gentle rhythmic beating sensation. He finally realized he wasn't panicking anymore, his heart wasn't racing, his breathing was no longer strained, in fact even the pain he had felt from being impaled by the spikes on Roy's shell was... lessened. The hardest part of regaining consciousness was getting his body to respond, as one could imagine after such severe wounds, the physical side of his being wasn't eager to begin moving about again. He was eventually able to get his arm to move enough to feel a soft smooth material under the tip of his fingers... a blanket? Next his head tilted to the side slightly allowing him to feel a plush cushion under it... a pillow... he was in bed. That was good sign, if his body wasn't in shock and he was in bed that meant he wasn't dying... hopefully.

"He's coming around," a voice said.

When he was finally able to move his eyelids he saw a Mushroom citizen dressed in a long white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. At this he began to panic anew, his mind lit up and forced his eyes the rest of the way open, quickly looking around he saw that he was laying in a large canopy bed, covered in a blanket bearing the symbol of a large mushroom in the center. Against the far wall made of stone was a picture of... Princess Peach! In that instance he realized he was in Peach's Castle letting out an audible gasp, then looking to the doctor in front of him he could see a pair of female Mushroom nurses behind him dressed in pink. With a snarl he lunged for the doctor's throat with his hands, "You'll never take me ali- gaaaah!" Slamming into the floor as he fell out of bed the impact sent pain shooting through Alexander's body, especially his forearm, as vividly as when he had first been injured. The Mushroom doctor jumped back at first, surprised by the outburst, then when he saw Alexander writhing in pain he rushed to his side, "Your majesty, please you should remain in bed," he said. Still intent on trying to strangle the doctor to affect his escape he grabbed the side of his coat before something clicked in his head, "What did you say?"

"I said you should stay in bed."

"No, before that."

"Your... majesty?"

"Why the hell would you call me that?"

"Because you're the crowned prince of the Mushroom Kingdom... are you feeling okay sire?"

Crowned prince of the Mushroom Kingdom... crowned prince of the... "Are you out of your fucking mind? Crowned prince of... how the hell did that happen?" Alexander said, looking to the doctor. His last comment took the doctor by surprise as he stared back, "Come now sire," he said, helping Alexander back into bed, "you should rest for now, regain your strength." Once he was seated on the side of the bed he cast the doctor's arm aside, "Leave me alone damn it, I don't need to be coddled!" The doctor took two steps back after that with a confused expression on his face. Things finally began to sink in as Alexander looking in think over the situation, and in turn looking over the room. It was a wide, spacious area of old gray stone and mortar much like Bowser's castle, only better illuminated. To his left there were several steps leading up to where a hot tub had been built into the floor, against the walls were everything a person would need to care for their hygiene, a dresser with a mirror, armoire, a deep white blind to change behind, as a small alcove built into the wall to house various items for bathing such as soap and shampoo among other things.

To the right he noticed the room appeared to have been accommodated to suit a man, there was a large double door closest against the far wall with a full length mirror next to it, a nightstand, and a few other odds and ends that went unnoticed when something else caught his attention. There was a painting... of him, from the waist up. Not in the black leather outfit and shell he wore as a koopa, in this picture he was dressed in a what looked like a solid white military coat, with a matching cape, and light blue/white shoulder pads. When he studied the walls in closer detail he noticed a wide variety of other picture, some of him, some of peach, and others... with the two of them together. That in itself was enough to confuse the hell out of him, then there was the fact of where the events that were taking place, in what he could only guess was Peach's bedroom, not the dungeon. Considering how badly she wanted his ass on a platter for the variety of offenses he'd committed, this should scene should have been playing out in a dungeon with half the Kingdom army on standby to foil any escape attempts on his part. The were no guards present at all, only the doctor and a pair of nurses who were holding low output wands designed to facilitate healing.

Instead of freaking out and flipping his wig, Alexander decided it best to simply play along for the time being until he could piece together more of what was going on. In that respect he put on his best diplomatic attitude and laid back on the bed, "My apologies doctor, when I awoke I was... dazed and confused, please continue." The doctor placed the stethoscope back into his ears taking hold of the end, then moved it over several sections of Alexander's chest, quietly listening for anything that might be out of the ordinary to him. With a degree of uncertainty the nurses returned to either side of the doctor and began using their wands, one tended to his arm where the splint had been removed, the other slowly moved her wand over the puncture wounds on his chest, though by now they looked to be little more than nasty scars. "Your majesty, what happened?" the doctor asked, finally removing the stethoscope. With his brain wracking itself into a near knot to try to understand his current circumstance, the only conclusion Alexander could come to was that this was some sort of trick, a ruse, they were trying to get him to reveal sensitive information about Bowser and the Dark Lands. "I don't know," he lied, "everything happened so fast I can't remember much of anything."

"Doctor, his breathing is still labored," one of the nurses said.

"Yes I know," the doctor replied, "he needs more sleep. Continue to tend to his wounds while I inform the princess of his condition."

As the doctor walked out of the room one of the nurses began waving her wand slowly across Alexander's forehead, he was about to point out he didn't have a head wound when his senses suddenly shut down and he fell asleep. It wasn't until several hours later that Alexander started to rouse from his magically induced slumber, still a little groggy from the experience he grunted as his mind began to focus itself on the waking world. The windows on either side of the bed had been shuttered and torches lit, which told him it was evening time, possibly later. Without even thinking about it he sat up, then realized his arm, even his body wasn't sore anymore, glancing down he noticed there wasn't even so much as a scratch from where the spikes on Roy's shell had impaled him. So the tales of the Kingdom's healing magic weren't exaggerated, with wounds that deep even Koopa magic would have left visible scarring. He briefly thought he was alone in the room until he heard the sound of a woman humming, glancing up he saw Peach standing behind the blind near her armoire. With a towel wrapped around a head full of wet hair, and another on the corner of the blind, he could see the silhouette of her figure which told him she wasn't wearing any clothes, at least not that he see from his perspective. She had her back turned to him with her arm raised, it was making small but rapid motions and she wasn't sure what she was doing until she turned around.

She was in the middle of brushing her teeth when their eyes met, and now with almost half of her body exposed he could see that the towel on her head really was the only thing she was wearing. Turning around again she spit into a sink, then to the sound of a squeaking handle running water could be heard as she washed her mouth out. Despite the fact that Alexander was married, he couldn't help but lean over trying to get a better look at the princess, At the moment she was facing away from him, completely naked, and bent over, all he could see was part of her right leg but it didn't stop him from trying. He quickly looked away as she stood back up, still at a loss as to what was going on. Peach didn't say anything yet, she reached up drying her hair with the towel before discarding it and letting her golden blond waist length hair fall across her back. After that she walked out from behind the blind causing Alexander's eyes to widen as he almost crawled up the wall behind the bed. The princess walked over to the door and took an old brass key of a nearby table, sliding it into the lock below the handle she twisted it causing a small clicking sound, then placed it back on the table. "There we are, you can't escape now." Peach said, as she leaned her back against the door.

With his pulse about to hit two-hundred Alexander tried to figure out what the hell was going on, the damned princess of the Mushroom Kingdom was leaning against the door to the room stark naked, and what's more, she had that look in her eyes similar to when Wendy wanted some. He did mentally note however that the carpet indeed matched the drapes. With a figure every bit as curvy and appealing as Wendy's, Alexander physical reaction to seeing her naked wasn't unexpected as he ended up making a small tent under the covers, something that didn't escape Peach's notice either. "Oh my, it looks like everything is still in working order thankfully," she said. Quickly looking under the covers he noticed she wasn't the only one in the room that was naked. 'Oh shit...' he thought. That same thought echoed through his mind several times as Peach sauntered across the room, the other problem that he had was that by cornering himself between the head of the bed and the wall, he didn't have anywhere to go when she climbed onto it. The princess wasted no time in climbing onto his lap and taking a seat, leaning forward she pressed her ample chest against his. "I'm so relieved to see that you're alright, you had me worried. You disappeared from the castle without a trace, then a guard patrol finds you laying in the middle of a field nearly bleeding to death. Honey, what happened, who attacked you?" Peach said. Waiting for an answer he placed her hands on his shoulders, then began to gently run them down his arms.

With a naked, and undeniably gorgeous woman seated on his lap verbal speech was something that took considerable effort on Alexander's part, "Don't remember, j-just went for a walk, then everything h-happened so fast it's a blur, didn't even see anyone," he said, repeating his lie from before. Leaning in even closer until their mouths almost touched, Peach licked his lips gently before pressing her mouth against his in a deep, passionate kiss. This presented another problem for Alexander in that his idea that this entire situation was a set-up was starting to lose ground, he'd seen and heard enough about the princess to know she was too 'wholesome' to act like this, in fact from what he'd heard she was still a virgin, saving herself for her wedding day. If he had gotten any harder his dick would have snapped itself in half. When she kissed him the physical reaction was immediate, he had his arms wrapped around her with one hand on her ass before he even realized it. When she finally broke away she started to move down his neck speaking between light kisses, "Now that... you're all better... how about a... little home therapy?" The Lord of the Koopas about wanted to tear his hair out, he was being jumped by one of the two most attractive women he'd ever seen and he couldn't do what he body screamed for him to.

Right now he wanted to throw Peach onto the bed and drill her through it but he couldn't, he was married. Wendy was his wife and this was bordering on outright adultery, he wanted to fucker her, he wanted to fucker her so bad it was about to drive him crazy. Had he not been married he'd have thrown the covers aside and pulled her down onto his lap without a second thought, yet now those second thoughts were screaming for him to stop, not to throw away his marriage and everything he loved for over a piece of ass. He knew that if he did this that not only would he feel like shit in the morning, but that if Wendy ever found out it would hurt her more than anything else he could have ever possibly done. To sleep with a woman that she absolutely despised would have been a betrayal of their relationship in a way words couldn't begin to describe. "P-Peach, stop, stop." Alexander said.

"What's the matter sweet heart?" she asked, looking up.

"It's just... I... with everything that happened today, the attack, waking up disoriented and confused. I need time, to sort myself out, clear my head. I hope you're not mad."

Instead of becoming upset as Alexander originally thought she would, Peach smiled gently laying her head on his chest, "I understand, just please don't do something like that again. I don't know what I'd do without you." Even though she wasn't his wife Alexander held her in his arms, able to smell the gentle lilac perfume of her hair. He wouldn't cheat on Wendy regardless of what oddball circumstances he found himself in, but he could help but begin to understand her appeal to Mario. Peach was young, drop dead gorgeous, and there was something about her that seemed to calm him down. It was obvious that he could never speak of this when he got home... Wendy would kill him if she ever found out, but laying there in bed holding the princess in his arms, it was a nice feeling. This was also starting to cause a conflict within him, he was suppose to hate her and want to destroy her monarchy and everything it stood for. What he was feeling right now was why he had always tried to distance himself from her and her people, it was easier to terrorize and torment someone you didn't know, but this, this was forcing him to start realizing she was human just like him.

She had wants, needs, and desires, hopes, dreams, and fears, everything that made someone human... such being a relative term here. Alexander had spent almost his entire time in Mushroom World trying to convince himself he was a ruthless machine that would stop at nothing to achieve Bowser's goal of conquering the Mushroom Kingdom, but just as that damned Princess Daisy had proven, he had the same feelings anyone else did. He had all of the feeling he pretended he didn't, including guilt. If he didn't find a way to sort this situation out, and fast, he might actually start feeling sorry for what he'd done to her and her people beyond Lilliona... not something a person in his position could afford.


	10. Chapter IX

The next morning when Alexander awoke, Peach was already gone much to his relief. The entire situation that he found himself in was beyond his comprehension, one minute he was fighting against Morton Koopa and his sick, twisted army, the next thing he knew Princess Peach was on his lap wanting to give junior a workout. He was still in bed later that morning when a knock came at the door, "You're majesty, breakfast will be ready in ten minutes." a male voice said. Alexander only grunted a response, sitting up in bed, for once he truly had no idea what was going on, there was so much in play that couldn't wrap his mind around everything. Standing, he walked over to the closet against the far right wall opening the doors, inside he found several identical sets of clothing, all the same as what was displayed in the picture hanging on the wall. When he checked the dresser he found a variety of casual clothing, yet when he opened another drawer he came upon a rather odd sight... boxer shorts. While most people might not find that too strange, no one in the Kingdom had ever seen him in his underwear, for that matter only a very few select people in the Dark Lands had seen such aside from Wendy and Clawdia. There was no way for anyone here to know that he preferred boxers to briefs, and what's more, they were all in colors and patterns that he liked. Deep red, black, green with gold filigree, if this was a ruse, someone had really done their homework.

Still playing along for the time being he took a pair of black boxers from the drawer, then put on one of the white outfits he had found in the closet, it was no surprise that it fit perfectly. His mind was still in a daze when he walked out of the bedroom into the hallway beyond. There were two Mushroom guards outside the door, but neither of them even moved as he walked out. The single hallway continued straight ahead, until it came to a T-junction which presented Alexander with yet another problem... he didn't know his way around the castle. There were a few Mushroom people walking here and there, a pair of patrolling guards, an older looking individual reading some papers he was holding, but nothing to indicate which direction he should go in. He was about to start cussing to himself when something caught his attention, a smell, he sniffed a few more times realizing it was the scent of freshly cooked eggs. Regardless of the situation at hand there was one undeniable fact... he was hungry. Following his nose to the left he moved down the hallway until it opened into a circular room with hallways leading in all four cardinal directions, there he saw a Mushroom woman carrying a covered serving platter. Alexander quietly followed behind the servant several steps back as she walked from the eastern hallway into the northern, the smell of food was becoming stronger as he went, there were several wooden doors lining the wall on either side, but it was the single door at the very end that the Mushroom woman entered.

He could hear the low sound of people conversing casually and upon entering he found his destination. Before him was a large dining hall with a long table of polished dark wood similar to the one Bowser had demolished recently. He had expected to see Princess Peach sitting at the head of the table, but she wasn't, she was seated to the right of an older looking man and woman, both wearing crowns. The man was short, pudgy, dressed in a black robe with purple trim, a black mushroom hat with yellow spots, and had a black mustache and goatee. Next to him the woman was tall with long blond hair and dressed in a red robe with matching rubies sown into the trim, she put Alexander to mind of an older version of Peach. He had heard that her parents were still alive, but this was the first time he'd ever actually seen them. On the other side of the table across from Peach was Minister Toadsworth, and there were a variety of other ministers and court officials beyond that. The only seat empty was next to the princess which was obviously meant for him. The king waved to Alexander as he walked through the door trying to act as casual as possible, he was still incredibly nervous but without any clues to the contrary for the time being, he played their little game. Taking a seat next to the princess he quietly took his plate and began to serve himself breakfast as things got underway. "So Alexander, I heard you had quite an encounter the other day. I do hope your felling better." King Toadstool said.

"Oh yes, much, the doctor and nurses did their jobs well."

"So what happened? They tell me you were attacked?"

The situation with the 'attack' was starting to get as annoying as the number of times he had had to repeat his story after returning from the Nexus, his first instinct was to throw his fork at the king, yet he refrained. "I honestly don't know. I just took a walk to get a breath of fresh air, then everything happened so quickly all I remember is waking up in bed. I didn't even see anyone."

"It wouldn't surprise me if it was that lousy Wendy Koopa. She's been trying to find a way to get at Peach and it's just like her to do something this dirty and underhanded." Toadsworth said. That comment was enough to illicit an audible growl from Alexander as he looked at the minister. Everyone in the room stopped and looked at him, several with odd expressions, and he quickly tried to recover himself and pretend nothing had happened. He was about to stab his fork into a pile of scrambled eggs when he noticed that without even meaning to he had bent his fork into an L shape during his sudden surge of anger. "Change the subject," Alexander said flatly, bending his fork back into position. Though there was idle chatter during breakfast the Koopa lord made no attempt to hide his mood, intentionally wanting to be left alone, which he was. The only interaction during breakfast was when Peach reached over patting him on the leg in a reassuring manner. Once the meal was finished he didn't bother to hang around for even a minute to let his food settle, he stood and walked out of the room leaving everyone to wander what was going on.

Being in the bowels of enemy territory was already starting to grate on his nerves, he didn't want to be here, he wanted to be home helping his family defend against Morton Sr and the army he had brought with him to try to take back his throne. The problem he had right now is that it would cause an uproar if he simply tried to walk out again with this whole attack story circulating... or would it. Perhaps that was part of the ruse, use this attack story to keep him confined to the castle, keep him contained until they could wear him down and get him to spill what he knew about the secrets of Bowser and the Dark Lands. Even though he didn't know where he was going Alexander continued to walk through the halls of the castle, on one occasion he mowed down a servant coming around the corner from an adjoining hall, though he kept going not really giving a damn. Shortly thereafter he heard someone call after him, "Prince Magnus, thank goodness I found you!" Turning to see who had addressed him he saw a nondescript Mushroom servant standing behind him with a clipboard in his hand. "What the hell do you want?"

"Your majesty?"

"You were the one who ran up behind me, now out with it, what the hell do you want?"

The response seemed to take the servant by surprise and he blinked a few times before answering, "Well... uh... you have a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Beanbean Kingdom in twenty minutes to-"

"Clear my schedule."

"B-But sire, he's come-"

"I said clear the goddamn schedule, are you deaf?"

The servant nearly jumped back at that response, then with a flourish of his cape Alexander turned and walked off, "Leave me the fuck alone." Even though Peach's Castle wasn't as large as Bowser's, it was still large enough that it took him several minutes of wandering to finally find his way out of the front gate. The drawbridge was lowered allowing easy access to the main road, made of cobblestones buried in the ground it lead directly through the center of Toad Town, continuing on into the distance. Alexander quietly walked the short distance between the castle and the town, content to take a seat on the edge of a small embankment overlooking most of the capitol city. He'd been to Toad Town before so the blocky shape of the various adobe buildings was nothing new to him. The center of town, a large open expanse of stonework ground was full of activity as the day got underway. At the moment what he wanted to do more than anything was to get away from it all and try to clear his head, he needed time to think and try to sort things out. There had to be some sort of method to the madness that was going on, some way to sort out this insanity.

What puzzled him the most was how he had even gotten here in the first place, the last thing he remembered was being on a battlefield in the middle of a war in which the Kingdom wasn't even involved, Peach and her forces hadn't even arrived. The other problem presented was that he damn well knew Bowser and the others wouldn't have left him behind, especially Wendy, and if they'd lost to Morton he'd be dead right now, so how did he get here? How had the kingdom managed to get their hands on him, and why this elaborate ruse, why not just throw him in the dungeon. Maybe they were trying to mess with his head, try to pacify him and gain the information through deception. With his reputation for violence and destruction he likely would have taken out most of the population in the castle in an escape attempt or died trying. That actually made sense to him, fuck with his head, make up some excuse to keep him around the castle so he wouldn't ask too many question to too many people. Now that he'd had time to think he smirked to himself a little, there was one thing the Kingdom had underestimated, one thing they hadn't counted on. Alexander well knew what people thought of him, they thought he was just some idiot terrorist Bowser sent out whenever he needed a job done, a tool, a stupid thug. That was an image he had very carefully crafted over the course of two years and now it was time to use the one thing no one counted on... his brain.

He was no fool, he knew he had a habit of running off at the mouth, this was something he had learned early on in his life. He had learned early on in life, when he lived at the orphanage, that people thought he was all mouth and no brain because of the way he relentlessly ramble on at times. Over the years he'd learned to craft that into a finely honed tool of deception to make people underestimate him. Such was the same here as well, he would often look at a situation and gauge things from the othr person's point of view, what would they expect him to do, what moves would they anticipate. He would run countless situations through his mind over and over again getting into someone else's head, often times he would do exactly what others expected him to, only he had thought two, three, even four steps ahead of them and was already prepared to counter whatever tactics they might bring to bear against him. Admittedly doing that was harder here because there was still so much he had to learn about Mushroom World and the surprises it would hold for him, but there were still some things that seemed to remain the same here as well as on Earth.

"Alexander, are you alright?" Peach asked.

"Oh course dear, I'm fine," he said, standing to face Peach as she walked up behind him.

"I was starting to wonder, the staff told me that you had cleared your entire schedule for the day."

Putting on his best coy smile he slid his arms around the princess, "I just needed some time to sort out my thoughts. I was a bit scattered this morning, now, I have a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Beanbean Kingdom if memory serves." The other thing he had decided to do was show them exactly how to properly rule a kingdom, if they were going to pretend to make him a prince, he was going to show them exactly how a koopa ruled a kingdom. Kissing Peach on the lips lightly a smiled again and held her hand as he walked back to the castle.

The small square room in which Alexander sat with the princess was one of several conference rooms within the castle. There were more pictures of unfamiliar people spaced between Kingdom banners on the wall, with a single square table in the middle of the room Alexander sat next to the princess, opposite the Prime Minister of the Beanbean Kingdom. The official looked like a bean too, a small green bean shaped individual no larger than a Mushroom citizen with thinning gray hair and a matching beard. He wore a bright red robe trimmed with gold filigree and appeared to think quite highly of himself from the way he acted. Diplomacy was never something Alexander much cared for, even though he seemed to be fairly decent at it when he put his mind to it. On the way here he had asked Toadsworth what the entire meeting was all about, apparently there had been some sort of snafu at the last diplomatic function the Kingdom had attended there and the Prime Minister had come to discuss how to handle the situation.

"...and a small group of Kingdom guards were overheard making a number of unflattering remarks regarding Queen Bean's weight. Although the Mushroom Kingdom did ask the parties in question to leave the function, the matter remains that the Beanbean monarchy is still aware of the nature of these highly offensive remarks," the minister said.

Although Alexander had only ever seen a picture of the queen of the Beanbean kingdom, had he been there he probably would have been snickering along with the guards, the woman was a real fat-ass. He almost leaned over at one point to ask if he could drop kick this whiner out the front gate before remembering that it was Peach and not Wendy he was talking to... Wendy. This place was making him lonely for his wife and daughter, he wanted to go home and hug his little girl, then fuck his wife. He wanted to fuck Peach too but that wasn't going to happen.

"Well?" the minister asked.

"Well what?" Alexander said.

"What do you plan to do about this?"

"Do about what, so they made a few crude jokes, what's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? They insulted Queen Bean, the sovereign of the Beanbean Kingdom."

"Yeah... from what I've seen she could stand to go on a diet and lose a few thousand pounds."

"What?" the minister fumed, "How dare you, what gives you the right-"

"I'm done." Alexander said. He slid his chair out from behind him with his foot and walked out of the room without even so much as telling the Prime Minister the meeting was adjourned. All of these little pretend games were really starting to get on his nerves, a make believe meeting over insults at some function in the Beanbean Kingdom, he thought that one was pretty lame. When Princess Peach didn't follow after him he thought about his next move, the idea came to test exactly how far they were willing to take this little charade. He had no doubt the wanted to keep him around the castle, so he was going to do the exact opposite. There wasn't much on his schedule for today, in fact he had a three hour gap until his next appointment so it was time to get out and stretch his legs a little. At this point in time he was only going to stroll through Toad Town to get a better sense of this place and think over his next course of action, maybe if he could clear his head he could figure out what was going on.

He let his thoughts wander to things of a more pleasant nature as he began to walk through town, Wendy, his wife. For all her bitchiness, greed, anger, and temper tantrums he still loved the woman. In fact the thought occurred to him that he needed to buy her something simply for the fact that he hadn't done so in a while. Standing there in the town square he looked about watching the various people go about their daily business, men and woman walking about, kids playing in a nearby schoolyard, it all looked as though it were just another day in the Kingdom. Perhaps he'd go to one of the local shops, or... the merchant with the horse drawn carriage looked promising, that much he knew because of the bright red 'Thal's Traveling Mercantile' painted on the side. The individual in question was an average looking Mushroom citizen, as he approached the man stopped and smiled, "Good afternoon your majesty." he said, bringing the horses to a stop.

"Whatever. So what all have you got for sale anyway? Need to buy something for my wife."

"Ah, a gift for the princess is it?"

"Exactly," Alexander said, he smiled thinking to himself he just hadn't specified which princess he was buying it for.

The merchant hopped down from the front of the dull blue wooden carriage and started to make he way around back, "Good a place as any to open shop." he commented. As he disappeared into the back of the cart Alexander inspected the horses, both of them were brown horses, Roans at a guess, but then he'd never studied horses much so he wasn't really sure. They were well groomed, feed, and appeared to be in good health. Again he smiled to himself a little and stroked on of them on the neck, it snuffled slightly in response and seemed to tilt its neck toward his hand slightly. Animals had always been a source of comfort for him, they were simple beings with simple needs. They weren't concerned with things like politics, treachery, plotting, or conquest, if treated well and loved they returned the feeling. They didn't care if you were late, they could often tell when their masters were in a bad and tried to comfort them, that was something else he thought about, something that he wanted in life, a pet... at least it wouldn't scream at him and spend all his money.

Moments later he heard what sounded like metal gears turning, when he looked to the carriage, to his surprise the upper-right half was opening, split down the middle of the roof. He watched curiously as the side continued to lower itself until it touched the ground revealing a staircase that would allow the considerably shorter Mushroom People to climb up to where things on sale were being displayed. As one might expect, though neat, the inside of the cart was crammed almost to the top with various containers for holding all the merchant's wares, the side that had opened had been fitted with a counter top where items were being quickly placed on display to draw the attention of potential customers. Alexander only had to step up onto the second of eight small steps to bring himself eye level with the merchant who had just turned away to rummage through another chest, with one arm filled with merchandise he was about to close the chest when something caught Alexander's eye, "Wait!" he said, causing the merchant to stop and look back at him, "What is that, in the chest?"

"Could you be a little more specific your majesty? I have a lot of 'that' in here."

"That weird looking box."

Taking a moment to place the items in his arm on the counter top, the merchant returned to the chest in question and began to look through it, a moment later he drew out something that made Alexander just stand there and stare in astonishment, it wasn't just any box, it was the box. The box he and Wendy had found on the island during their honeymoon, how had it gotten here? As far as he knew it was still in his shell which was in their room at the castle. "Where did you get that?"

"What, this little thing? I found it on the side of the road as I was traveling from Lilliona this morning."

"How much?"

"Twenty mushroom coins."

"Crap... I don't have any money with me."

"I can just send the bill to the castle if you like."

"Yeah, you do that. This should be... interesting." He took the box and walked away from the cart as other people began to approach, he had only made it a few steps when something in the back of his mind clicked causing him to stop and look up from the box. The merchant had said Lillionia, not Kooparia. Why would he say something like that, the town had been under their control long enough for word to get around, everyone would know by now that he'd conquered the town and forced the Kingdom to concede ownership. Slipping the box into his pocket he resumed walking through the town square when something occurred to him, something that caused a large and dark smile to come across his face. Kooparia was one thing the Kingdom wouldn't have been able to fake, the town being under control of the Dark Lands would be something that couldn't simply be explained away and blow this whole charade out of the water. Although he'd rarely used the section of the pipe network under the Kingdom's control he had memorized a map so that he knew where to go to get where he wanted to be. He made a sharp left into an alleyway between two buildings, turning two more times, once to the left and then the right, he came to a dead end alley.

"What the hell?" he said, looking around for the warp pipe that should have been there. He walked to the end of the alley and continued to look around trying to figure out where a stationary warp pipe could have disappeared to. He had memorized that map backwards and forwards and could recite it with his eyes closed because he had gotten sick of not knowing where a pipe would lead, this one should be here. Similar to the one in the pipe room in Bowser's Castle this one lead to an exit about twelve miles outside town, two miles further than the other. "Can I help you with something your majesty?" Glancing in the direction the voice had come from, he saw a patrolling Mushroom guard with a spear in one hand looking over at him. "I'm looking for the warp pipe that leads to Koop- Lilliona. I need to speak with the mayor personally about something." The guard looked at him strangely for a moment, then pointed back the way Alexander had come, "It's on the other side of the street sire." Not wanting to make more of an idiot out of himself than he had already managed to apparently do he just smiled to the guard as he walked by, "Musta gotten turned around, I've got a lot on my mind."

Taking the same route out of the alleyway he thought the same thing to himself, he had so much on his mind he must have gotten himself turned around somehow, gotten confused in the flurry of events that were taking place. He made his way back across the town square into another alley between two more buildings, this one made a sharp ninety degree turn to the left, making his way around the corner this alley dead ended as well, only this time there was a large green pipe at the end. Walking up to it he grabbed the side and mumbled, "Geronimo," before diving in. When he surfaced he was expecting to come out on one of the many grassy green fields that comprised the Kingdom, but the moment he surface he simply froze in place. Instead of a field he had come out in the center of town in a warp pipe where the well should have been, but that wasn't what stopped him cold, no, a warp pipe being out of place wasn't what sent his heart into the pit of his stomach. Instead of freaking out and acting like a complete idiot he merely knelt down sitting on the edge of the pipe.

He just sat there and watched as the citizens of Lilliona went about their daily business... the Mushroom Kingdom citizens. There were no koopa here, no buildings being constructed, no dock extension, nothing, it was as if the invasion had never happened. Some of the faces he even recognized, faces that should have been dead, dead and buried in a mass grave outside of town which, if memory served, now had a wheat farm over top of it, or at least it used to. Normally when something surprised Alexander he would start shooting his mouth off like an idiot until he got a handle on himself, but this, this was just too far outside his comprehension for his mind to deal with. These people should be dead, even in the Mushroom World with all its magic and wonder, they were bound by the laws of nature the same as Earth and no amount of technology, or Koopa/Mushroom magic could change that. Once you died, you died, that was it game over. Even green mushrooms that were as rare as owl's teeth didn't really bring someone back to life, they could revive someone who had died, but only within five minutes of death, beyond that even they had no power.

Nothing made any sense anymore, Kooparia wasn't Kooparia, people seemed to think he was prince of the Mushroom Kingdom, which he'd managed to finally piece together came from supposedly marrying Peach. It was the only thing that made any sense considering his position and her trying to sleep with him... prince of the Kingdom, married to Peach... now that was some whack bullshit. He was married to Wendy, they had a daughter, and he wasn't trying to marry the princess, he was trying to kick her off her little throne and take over this kingdom. He almost wasn't surprised to see Nermer, they mayor he'd watched die with his own eyes, come walking up to him. No doubt word of his arrival was spreading already. The old gray bearded mayor walked up to him with a smile on his face, "Your majesty, what a pleasant surprise." Without even returning the smile Alexander slid off the side of the pipe and started to walk toward the docks.

"Sire? Might I ask where you're going?"

"Crazy Nermer, I'm going crazy."


	11. Chapter X

The place Alexander had chosen to go crazy was the same tree near the beach he had watched Clawdia play under only a few days earlier. Was he really going insane, was this some sort of delusion brought on by his injuries, were these the last fading thoughts of a man who was in reality laying in the middle of a field bleeding to death? He felt cold inside, but not from any possible injuries, it was from the feeling there were things he just couldn't explain, things that didn't make sense. This was more than simple ruse, or some sort of game, there was something more at play, but he couldn't figure out exactly what, hell he didn't even have a clue. Maybe he was dying, maybe he was already dead, if this was the afterlife then someone had a sick sense of humor. If Wendy was here, where ever here was, would she even recognize him, or would he be as strange to her as this entire situation he found himself in. The thought of being without Wendy was more than he could handle, she was the only woman in his entire life that had ever truly given herself to him, and he to her, and to lose something like that... it would have been like tearing his heart out and stomping on it. So he'd passed up the chance to fuck Peach, big deal, Wendy knew what he liked, how he liked it, and in what position.

Beyond that he also loved her because he had begun to realize that while she was mean and spiteful towards him, it was mostly when he was feeling sorry for himself and needed a swift kick in the ass. Even if she didn't realize it, he'd helped him to grow, to become stronger and be a better person. The man he had been when he first came here never could have been able to do the things he had done... never. In just two short years, seven counting his 'vacation' in the nexus, his life on Earth seemed to almost be another age, another lifetime ago. He wasn't completely proud of everything he'd done, everyone had regrets in life, but he'd do it all over again just to be with her. Never the less, he was proud of who he'd become, a father, a lord, someone who knew what he wanted out of life and wasn't afraid to go after it. Before coming here his life was ruled by uncertainty, aimless wandering, and a bleak existence. Now he had love, passion, drive, ambition, desire, all the things he'd been lacking before. Wendy hadn't just taught him a new meaning for physical lust, she'd also taught him lust for wealth and power, while they'd eventually taken a back seat to his wife and family they were still there never the less. Then there was also something else that had found its way into his mind about a week ago.

He often thought about the future and what it held for him, and one of those was the possibility of becoming emperor of the Dark Kingdom himself. He had no plans to try and overthrow Bowser, that would have been a fool's errand, plus after everything he had given him Alexander felt a deep sense of loyalty to his father-in-law. This thought had come out of the fact that if nature took its course he would outlive Bowser. The koopa had a lifespan comparable to that of a human, seventy-five to one-hundred years taking into account things like health, serious injuries, and other factors. What had brought this line of thought into being was the innate lust for power all of the Koopa princes, and princess, possessed. Even with Bowser grooming Ludwig to be his successor he knew there was a high probability that their father was the only thing holding them together, and once he was gone, it would likely be every koopa for himself. If that was in fact what happened, Alexander planned to overthrow all of his brother-in-laws and sit as the sole emperor of the Dark Kingdom with Wendy as empress of course. Taking his wedding ring off he looked at the inscription on the inside, 'To my beloved Lord Magnus, the man I will love always and forever. Wendy', at least that was still as it should be.

"Alexander?" Peach asked.

Looking up from his thoughts Alexander saw Peach a few steps behind staring down at him. She was the last person he wanted to deal with right now, and considering everything that was happening, perhaps he would do just that, deal with her. He realized now that there was more going on than a simple charade, so it time to do just as he had learned from both Wendy and his time here. It was time to stop sitting around and thinking, and start doing. He decided it was time to have a little fun with the situation at hand and see how bright Princess Peach really was. "Tell me something Peach, what would you do if one day you woke up, and everything you knew was different, even the people around you had changed?"

"I don't understand," she said, sitting down next to him, "what's wrong honey? You've been acting strangely ever since we brought you back to the castle."

He glanced over at her briefly thinking about the situation he was in himself and how to deal with someone he wanted to conquer rather than cuddle with, "I would imagine so, considering the castle you brought me to."

"Where else would we take you?"

Alexander thought of trying to explain the situation to Peach but quickly discarded the idea, she'd likely think he was delusional, still suffering from his wounds. Instead he took the ring off his left hand, turning it about in his fingers he thought carefully about his next question. "What does the inscription on the inside of this ring say?"

"To the prince of my heart, and now my kingdom. Love Peach."

"Really now?" Reaching over he takes Peach's arm by the wrist and places the ring in her hand, "You might want to double check that."

He watched calmly as Peach raised the ring into the air, held between her fingers, and began to read the inscription on the inside. When he mouthed the word Wendy, she blinked a few times, as she began to lower her hand Alexander didn't wait for her to hand it back to him. He snatched the small gold band from her hand and placed it back on his finger not wanting to lose the last remaining tie to to his real wife. "Alexander, if this is some sort of joke I'm not laughing." His response came in a physical form rather than verbal, swinging his fist around he backhanded Peach in the face hard enough to knock her over before making it to his feet. When he looked down at her she had her hands cupped over her nose and mouth with a look of shocked disbelief in her eyes. "Let me break it down for you 'sweet heart', my princess is in another castle."

"W-Who are you?"

"Specifically? Lord Alexander Franklin Magnus, terror of the Mushroom Kingdom and right hand of Bowser, king of the koopa and sovereign ruler of the Dark Lands. I don't know how I got... here, or what the hell is going on, but I plan to find out and set things right again."

Holding his hand out he used his command over magic to form a fireball, though not a powerful as one he could summon with a fire flower it got the point across, "Now, let's do some simple logic shall we... dear. If I'm married to Wendy and I serve Bowser, let's grind the gears upstairs and figure out exactly what I think of you, shall we?" Peach quickly scrambled to her feet taking a few steps back, this time with a look of fear in her eyes as she saw the fireball in his hand. "There we go, that's the look I like to see. I may look like you're husband, I may sound and even feel like him, but I am forever and always... a koopa!"

Alexander drew his arm back to hurl the fireball at the princess when he was overtaken by a sensation of pain in his stomach so profund, so wrenching, that it brought him to his knees. The fireball disappeared with a small 'pfft' as he nearly double over grabbing his stomach, "What... did you do to... me?"

"I-I didn't do anything."

He began to reach out for the princess as if to grab her before the pain redoubled inside of him causing Alexander to yell out as he double over and collapsed onto the ground. It began to surge through his body unchecked causing his muscles to spasm and contract in response, then disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Still in shock from the sensation he laid there on the grass for a moment, still believing it some sort of attack, possibly a side effect of the magic that had been used on him. When he tried to sit up he was only able to make it to his knees before his stomach lurched, then most of breakfast made a splattering return on the ground in front of him as he threw up. His head was spinning and it was hard for him to think straight, but even in his mental haze he forced himself to remain upright, if nothing else to avoid doing a face plant into his own vomit. The process was slow at first, but his body seemed to eventually right itself to the point he could move without keeling over. He glanced up to see that Peach was gone, though after the threat he had just made that was no surprise.

With some effort he stood up balancing himself on the tree, once his head had cleared itself he managed to shake off the last of whatever had been bothering him and decided to continue the pursuit, maybe blow up Lilliona while he was at it for having the nerve to not be Kooparia. Just because he couldn't make any sense out of it didn't mean he had to like it, or put up with it. He made his way back up the walkway leading into town and glanced around to see if he could find Peach, best to exterminate the bitch before back-up could arrive. As one of the town guard walked by he snatched the spear from the Mushroom's hand to have a weapon to kill the princess with. "Hey mister, what's the big idea, give that back!" Using the butt end of the spear shaft he smashed the guard in the face with it knocking him over, "Shut up midget." Still in thought about where to chase after the princess he was taken by surprise when the guard power tackled him sending them both crashing to the ground as he lost his grip on the spear.

"Hey man, what's your problem?"

Even though the guard had taken him by surprise their size difference soon played out as Alexander spun around on the ground and brought an elbow around smashing in into the guard's temple hard enough to knock him out. Standing up again he grabbed the spear and grumbled to himself when he saw four other guards running his direction. They all stopped a few feet away with their weapons at the ready when the lead Mushroom spoke, "What's going on here mister? Who are you and what happened to Dakle?" Again Alexander was taken by surprise, being addressed in a way he hadn't expected. Moments ago he was Prince Magnus, now it's mister. "You don't know who I am?"

"If I did I wouldn't have called you mister, unless of course you prefer ma'am?" He hated Mushrooms to begin with, and smart ass Mushrooms only made him even madder than normal. Reaching down he grabbed the unconscious Dakle by the vest and hurled him at the guard who had spoken. This immediately caused them to break formation in surprise as their apparent leader was plowed down by an unconscious comrade. This was something Alexander needed as much as he did seeing Wendy and Clawdia, fighting with Mushroom people, attacking his enemies, it gave him a sorely needed sense of normality that had been missing recently. It helped ground him in what he knew and felt right with. As the guard to his left stumbled back in surprise Alexander slammed the butt of his spear into his gut causing him to let out a small wheeze as he double over, the wind knocked out of him. He could have easily killed them, but for now it wasn't needed, a good thrashing would do nicely.

The two others quickly recovered as the third pushed Dakle off of him. One of them rushed forward trying to use his spear in a low swung to sweep Alexander's legs out from under him. Using precision timing he brought one foot up and stomped on the shaft of the spear snapping the head clean off, with the same foot he kicked the guard in the face hard enough to snap him backwards and knock him out, two down, three to go. Even if his surroundings changed it seem some things didn't, the Mushroom guard's training was still a farce compared to his. He was about to lay into the others when he noticed them all take a few steps back and simply stare him down, this was an interesting change of tactics, were they actually trying to intimidate him or... seeing a small flash of blue light out of the right corner of his eye he realizes a second too late they were keep him distracted, drawing his attention from a large threat. He tried to spin out of the way of whatever was coming his way, but was only able to avoid part of the attack, the rest slammed into him hard enough to knock him to the ground. Coming to a stop after two tumbles he quickly regained his positioning with one knee on the ground, ready to pounce.

In light of the actions that had taken place recently he thought it would be Peach, she was one hell of a magic wielder, but it wasn't. It was a Mushroom citizen, it least in general appearances, though his looked much more imposing. He was at least twice as thick, at least six inches taller which would have brought him to about chest height with Alexander, he wore wooden shoulder pads reinforced by metal, with a trio of yellow jewels across the lower front section, fingerless brown gloves also baring a trio of jewels, though the one center most in the forearm guard was twice the size of the others. He had a large blue wand in one hand big enough it could have been a staff to him, he wore the same general outfit as most, a blue vest with white pants and brown boots, but unlike many others he wore a white undershirt as well. The gold square question mark belt buckle looked a lot like those strange blocks Alexander had seen a few times, and he had three bottles with a strange green liquid in them fastened to the right side of his belt. The thing Alexander found to be the strangest was his face, it didn't look anything like what one would normally expect to see. His skin was a pasty white and he had a wide, flat face with coal black eyes and no visible nose.

"Right, what ave we ere now?" the Mushroom said. Alexander started to get up when the strange Mushroom opened his hand forming what looked like an odd purple mushroom with some strange curls of matching energy wafting off of it in a threatening manner. Normally the lord of the koopa wouldn't hesitate to wade into a fight even with this individual, but with everything that was going on around him, he wasn't sure what to expect. Suppressing his violence urges he decided for a completely different approach and to see how well he could act.

"Master Toad," one of the guards said, "this guy walks up from the docks and without warning or reason he attack Dakle when he was on foot patrol. He took his spear, then hit him in the face with it. They got into a scuffle and then he got knocked out. When we came rushing over to help he hurled Dakle at Tarn there and then kicked Galo in the face knocking him out too."

"Young man, do ye ave anythin ta say ta this?" Toad asked, looking to Alexander.

"It was all a misunderstanding, honest. See I was attacked recently and stabbed repeatedly, if it wasn't for a skilled mushroom doctor I'd probably be dead right now. When Dakle came walking by I looked over, saw a gleaming spear head and just freaked out. When these four came running over I thought it was to attack me and I was just trying to defend myself, honest." Alexander lied.

"Do ye know who attacked ye?" Toad asked.

"No, they came at me from behind and everything happened so fast I didn't see anything clearly, I don't even know why I was attacked, I didn't have any money or valuables on me at the time." After that little line of bullshit he looked to the three remaining guards, "I'm sorry guys, seriously I just got spooked." In order to pull off this little acting session Alexander had to dig pretty deep to unearth emotions and feelings he normally kept buried in order to give himself the proper body language to look the part as well as sound it. Even with everything he had faced here, being with the koopa, especially Wendy, it had given him the ability to suppress his fear, it had been a long time since he was truly scared of anything outside the thought of losing his family. The thing that was really starting to piss him off was constantly having to ad-lib shit because of changing surroundings. Just when he was starting to get a handle on things, everything went wacko again.

Toad looked between the guards and Alexander, they didn't seem as much angry as they did surprised, two of them were already slapping one of the unconscious guards on the cheek lightly to wake them up. "Do ye wanna press charges?"

"I don't suppose there was any permanent damage done, if he keeps his nose clean I think we can let this incident go." One of the guards said. After their comrades had woken up and everything was sorted out they started to walk off, still shooting Alexander the occasional dirty look and Dakle resumed his patrol route. Now that the guards had left, Toad looked over at Alexander, "Ya seem ta be able ta andle yaself pretty well there laddie, where'd ya learn ta fight?"

"The school of hard knocks, though those Mushroom Guards aren't much of a challenge."

"Seen alota of action ave ye?"

"You have no idea."

"So what brings ye ta Lilliona?"

"Wandering, just trying to get my head on straight you might say. You from around here?"

Toad laughed at that and looked up at Alexander, "I'm royal retainer and bodyguard ta er majesty Princess Peach."

"Really now? That's interesting, I haven't seen you around before."

"I've been away, trainin. Can't count tha times I've ad Bowser and is troops 'and me ma ass like it was nothin. Got tired of bein useless so I've been trainin fer the past decade."

"Why do you look different? I can tell you're a mushroom, but your look is... off."

"I'm Subturian."

"And that means what?"

"I'm from tha kingdom of Subturia, like the name sounds it's unnerground."

"Never heard of it."

"Not surprisin', we rarely eva interact with tha surface world and vice versa."

"So what'd you leave Subturia for?"

Toad glanced up at Alexander for a moment before looking off toward the town, "I... ave ma reasons."

"And the accent?"

"Subturian."

"Sounds Scottish to me."

Both Alexander and Toad stood there in silence for a time before something occurred to him, perhaps a clue as to what was going on. Even if it proved to be a red herring it was the only lead he had for the time being. "Do you happen to know where I could find someone that can decipher languages?"

"Hmm, ye could try Professor Thaddeus Dale in Mushroom City, 'e specializes in archeology and ancient civilizations."

Alexander had heard of Mushroom City, it was not only home to a race track, it was the largest city in the Mushroom Kingdom with a population of nearly thirty-thousand. He had yet to go there as none of his missions had ever involved Mushroom City, but it appeared now he'd have the chance. The thing he noticed more than anything is that he was having a casual conversation with another person of note from the Mushroom Kingdom. This Toad individual seemed to be well informed from what he could tell, so he decided to see if he could dig up some more information instead of just blindly winging it this time around.

"Tell me, have you or Princess Peach ever heard of a Lord Magnus?"

"Not ta me knowledge no, by tha way, I dinna catch your name."

"Alexander Franklin, so what about Princess Wendy Koopa, she dating anyone?"

"Only a few boyfriends ere and there from wha I can tell, not tha I make it a point of keeping tabs on er social life. Any particular reason fer askin?"

"I... have my reasons."

The two smirked at one another briefly acknowledging that there were certain personal matters they didn't want to openly discuss and left it at that. Alexander thanked Toad for the information then made his way back into town, with the second shift in circumstances he was starting to form an idea of what was going on, but he wanted to confirm his suspicions before he went any further with this idea. Fortunately the pipe in the center of Lilliona was still in place so he was able to easily make it back to Toad Town. Upon exiting he walked to the end of the alley and made a sharp right turn coming out in the center of town. He stood there for a moment, watching the people as they moved about their daily business, he remained where he was for a time just watching, watching and waiting. As he suspected, no one acknowledged him, in fact few people even looked at him aside from a passing glance. He was just glad that most of the major cities had been constructed around interconnecting warp pipes, saved on a lot of walking. From what he could tell right now, he was a complete unknown, familiar to neither the Dark Lands or the Kingdom which he could use to his advantage to move about freely.

Alexander made his way to the outskirts of town ignoring the various people here and there until he arrived at a stationary warp pipe, there were a few Mushroom People exiting and heading for town so he waited until they were finished before climbing in. Dropping into the pipe he surfaced almost directly in the center of Mushroom City. The view from where he stood as he moved aside to allow others into the pipe was enough to make him stop and stare. He had heard that this city was home to one of the three race tracks within the Kingdom, but the architecture was amazing. The massive race track wasn't on the ground like the one Alexander had raced on with Wendy, this one was suspended almost sixty feet above the city on a series of massive reinforced stone pillars. The entire city had been built underneath and beyond the track and he was standing on the corner of a four way intersection in the center of town. The buildings here were similar to Toad Town in that they appeared to be made out of adobe mud, though there were others made out of stone and mortar, the adobe buildings didn't go higher than two stories. The others made of stone and mortar were considerably larger, some in the distance appearing to be in excess of ten stories high.

Mushroom City was just as Alexander had heard, a major metropolitan city capable of rivaling Bowseria in size and population. The four way intersection appeared to continue on into the distance in every direction which present a considerable problem, Alexander had no idea where Professor Dale was. He noticed a pair of humans walking toward him which caught his attention, considering their low population here seeing more than one at a time was rare. They appeared to be approaching the pipe he was standing next to, a young man with blond hair and a pudgy face dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt, and a young woman with her hair dyed green wearing a matching knee length dress. She was the one that caught Alexander's attention the most, she had a slender face, small nose, and a very well shaped figure. "Excuse me," Alexander said as the two approached, "would you happen to know where Professor Dale is?" The two stopped and looked at him for a moment, probably thinking he was quite the sight with his head to toe white outfit, though he had spoken to the woman it was the man who responded, "Um, I think he teaches at Mushroom City College," the man pointed to the left down one of the main roads, "you go about a mile down the road, take a left, go about five blocks and take a right at the sporting goods store, and it's about two miles down."

After a relatively uneventful sight seeing trip through Mushroom City, Alexander saw his destination ahead, the road ended at the entrance to the campus. The college was a large three story, rectangular, red brick building with a pair of large double doors in the front. It sat in the middle of a plot of land with a well manicured lawn and there was a large rod-iron fence separating it from the city, although the visible lack of guards made it obvious the fence was merely a boundary marker. The inside of the fence was also lined with a neatly trimmed hedge, and the main walkway leading from the entrance to the front of the main building split off in several other directions leading to smaller buildings of similar construction. The main building was Alexander's current target, best place to figure out where this Professor Dale was. Passing through the front gate he began walking towards the main building when he heard a loud cat-call whistle, glancing around he say a Hammer Sister sitting under a tree looking at him. He didn't mind looking at her either, she had to be at least a 40D cup size, with long brown hair, blue eyes, well curved hips, and a light green skin tone that was tan in the front. When their eyes met she smiled coyly at him showing obvious interest, while Alexander had developed a taste for Koopa women since he had arrived in Mushroom World, he smiled and held up his left hand wiggling his ring finger slightly. As he continued on he heard the young koopa mumble, "Drat."

There was little difference in temperature as he made his way through the two large glass double doors of the college's main building. There was a large open area in front with plastic and metal chair placed against the walls, a few yards ahead was a hall that ran parallel to the main office further back into the building and branched off into two other halls. The office was what one would expect, there were several neatly arranged desks with a variety of male and female turtles answering phones and tending to paperwork. As he approached the front desk a middle aged turtle woman smiled up at him, "Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?"

"I need to speak with Professor Thaddeus Dale."

"His classroom is just down the hall, first left, room two-ten. You'll have to wait a few minutes though, class is in session right now."

"How long until the class lets out?"

The turtle looked over at a wall clock briefly, "About ten minutes."

With a few minutes to burn Alexander took a seat and let his mind wander, but not in the direction of the situation at hand. Oddly enough he was thinking about the Hammer Sister who had whistled at him. Wendy practically attacked him shortly after they had first met, then there was Princess Peach, and now the Hammer Sister. They weren't the only people to hit on Alexander since his arrival here, though they were the ones that stuck out in his mind the most. The smiled to himself and shook his head a little, he'd never really given considerable thought to how he looked to the opposite sex, but it was becoming fairly obvious that he looked better than your average Joe. Even though he was married he normally fielded at least one to two come-ons per week from interested women. Although he knew some of them were likely due to his authority and position, he was sure his looks had a lot to do with it as well. The more he thought about it the more he seemed to confirm this, even on Earth before he had found his way here he'd never had a problem finding a young woman for a date, or for that matter a nice romp between the sheets. That was a real ego booster for him, being a ladies man. He had no plans to cheat on Wendy, though it was nice to know he still had considerable appeal to women.

He continued to think on the matter until his attention was drawn by the sound of a loud ringing bell indicating class was dismissed. Alexander wasted no time in moving down the pristine white halls of the college, well light by wall mounted lights he turned left down seeing a wooden door on his left marked with two-zero-four on a small bronze plaque. Continuing on he looked to the right seeing all the odd numbered rooms to the right and soon came to destination, room two-ten. There were still a few students of various species making their way out of the classrooms and he let them pass before trying to enter the room. Upon walking inside he came upon a large square room filled not with desks, but large rectangular white tables placed together end to end with chairs facing the front of the room. The wall opposite the door had waist high double pane windows stretching from wall to wall allowing one to easily see out into the campus. There was a large blackboard up front along with a desk piled with a variety of papers a human man was sorting through. This was the third human Alexander had seen today, apparently their population in the Kingdom was higher than the Dark Lands. Professor Dale looked almost like a younger version of Alexander's father. He was tall, slender, and bald with curly brown salt and pepper hair around his head. He wore large coke bottle glasses over top of a wide nose and visible jowls on either side of his mouth. Dressed in a pair of dark brown slacks with a light brown sleeveless wool sweater, and long sleeved white undershirt, he was a picture perfect college professor to Alexander.

"Are you Professor Thaddeus Dale?"

The man looked of from a pile of papers he was grading, adjusting his glasses with one hand, "I am he, can I help you young man?"

"I was told you're familiar with ancient civilizations and archeology. I was wondering if you could possibly help me decipher an unfamiliar language I came across recently."

"Do you perchance have a copy of the script with you?"

"In a manner of speaking." Removing the odd little box from his pocket Alexander still had to fiddle with it for a moment to find the top, then pried it loose. Box in hand he walked over to the desk where Thaddeus was sitting and placed both it and the lid down in front of him. In response the professor picked up both pieces studying them carefully, his eyebrows raised a little after he got a good look at the script inside the box and he appeared quite interested. "Oh my, most intriguing, yes indeed."

"What's intriguing?"

"I've seen this script before," he said looking up, "in some ancient writings discovered some years ago. If I might ask where did you find this?" Explaining that it fell to ground like a meteorite would have been hard to sell so Alexander relayed the story told to him by the merchant in Toad Town, "I found it laying on the side of the road on my way from Lilliona this morning."

"Can you help me? It's extremely important that I find out what's written inside that box."

"Hmm, I believe so. The language is extremely complex and hard to translate, but a colleague of mine has already made some progress with what we've found."

"How long will it take?"

"I don't know. Depending on how much progress my colleague has made it could be a day, maybe several. May I keep this with me for the time being?"

"Of course, I'll check back with you tomorrow. I'm not trying to be a nuisance but as I said it's very important."

"Might I ask why?"

"With all due respect, no."

Thaddeus nodded a few more times and seemed very taken by the box and the script inside, he soon seemed to lose interest in Alexander and studied the pieces at length, so he walked out allowing the professor to get to work on the box. Now he just had to kill a few days time... he was sitting still again and he didn't like it.


	12. Chapter XI

The problem facing Alexander now was the fact that he has to wait for Professor Dale to translate the writings in the box which meant that he had free time on his hands and he frankly had no idea of what to do with himself. Normally he would spend free time with his family though he had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't possible right now, so he had to find something to keep himself busy for the time being. The first immediate answer came in the form of a loud audible growl from his stomach although this presented him with a another problem, he had no money. Walking down the road from the college he tried to think about how to address this situation, first he would need some money and there was really only one way to accomplish that task. Continuing on his way he looked around making sure he had come to an area of the city that wasn't as heavily crowded, then ducked into a small alleyway between two buildings. There was little to be seen, just a simple alley with two dumpsters and a few abandon wooden boxes. The one thing Alexander had noticed both here and in the Dark Lands was an almost complete lack of homeless people, though with such small populations he imagined it was easier for Peach and Bowser to maintain the economy and help those in need.

From there he simply leaned against the wall and waited. With the time to stop and think about things for a moment Alexander wondered about how interesting things had become, not just with the situation but with him as well. Before coming here if he had found himself in a strange situation he couldn't understand or explain he likely would have started to panic and absolutely freak out. Now instead of losing it the first thing his mind did was to look for a way to explain things, try to look for clues, and also he seemed to have acquired a degree of survival skills. He didn't have long to think before a middle aged male mushroom in normal clothing came waddling through the alley, then without word or warning Alexander kicked him in the side of the head as he walked by with enough force to bounce him off the opposite wall of the alley. With the unconscious heap laying on the ground in front of him he leaned down and removed his victim's hat, taking a small brown leather pouch he hefted it a little hearing the coins clink, there weren't a lot but it was still enough to eat on. Content with what he had Alexander started to make his way out of the alley, sliding the coin pouch into his pocket he didn't notice the hammer brother standing in front of him until he had run into him chest first. This caused him to step back and, for once, look someone in the eye that was as tall as he was.

"Hey pinky, what's the big idea?" The word pinky immediately brought a scowl to Alexander's face, here in Mushroom World calling a human pinky was about the same as calling a black person a nigger on Earth. He was about to say something when the Hammer Brother pulled a hammer from his shell, "This is our turf human, you wanna work here you gots ta pay a turf tax." The word 'our' caused Alexander to glance over his shoulder and see another Hammer Brother standing behind him, they almost always came in pairs anyway so it didn't surprise him. Despite his intense desire to beat the hell out of both of them he refrained... for the moment. They weren't mushrooms and they apparently didn't know who he was, so he was willing to at least give them a chance. "I wasn't aware there was a turf claim here, besides I'm just passing through. Needed a little coin to eat on, I'll be on my way." When he tried to move around the hammer brother the turtle blocked his path again. "Don't matter, still gotta pay turf tax." Alexander's already short temper was wearing very thin at this point, "Now you listen to me shell brain," he said, using the Koopa equivalent of pinky, "I don't owe you shit, in fact I've already given you more than you deserve by even talking to you. Now get out of my way while you can still walk upright."

The response given to that statement was for the large turtle in front of him to swing his hammer at Alexander's head, the blow only made it about half way before being stopped as fist met palm, "Bad idea," Alexander said. Although some might have considered the next move cheap, to Alexander, in the heat of battle there was no cheap, only winners and losers, and at times survivors and the dead. Bringing his knee up he slammed in between the Hammer Brother's legs hitting him in the groin with enough force to cause his eyes to widen as he doubled over. Even though he couldn't see the one behind him he had a fairly good idea of what was coming, he ducked and spun around just as another hammer swung through the air, smashing into the wall of the alley hard enough to cause the wall to spit small chunks of red brick as it gave way under the force of the blow. He knew better than to punch a turtle in the beak, he'd already broken two fingers doing such in the past. Instead he used a technique he'd seen in a movie on Earth, he brought his leg up using his shin to kick the second hammer brother in the left knee hard enough to cause an audible cracking sound as it shifted to the side. The pain alone was enough to immediately drop his opponent as he yelled out, dropped his hammer, and grabbed for his leg as he fell. "Amateurs," Alexander spat, walking out of the alley.

With that little 'discussion' out of the way he decided it was high time to get something to eat, as physically active as he was it took a lot of food to keep him properly powered. It didn't take him long to find his target, which happened to be the first eating establishment he passed. He stood there looking up at a bright red sign that read 'Burger Kingdom'. The front of the building, like most fast food joints, was mostly glass around the front and sides to allow potential customers to easily see inside. There was a main lobby with menus above the front counter where mushroom people were working at the registers to take orders, there were a fair amount of customers waiting in line in front of all three registers. Further back was the dining area, divided by another set of counters where various condiments and drink dispensers were located. There were a number of rounded metal tables and chairs where a variety of people sat, enjoying their meals. Alexander opened the door walking into a small glass area, then opened a second door leading into the lobby and took his place in line behind several mushroom people. He looked at the menu behind the front counter while thinking how much this reminded him of Happy Burger, the place he had worked as a teenager before becoming an installer for Sycamore Cable. The line moved at a steady pace until he came to the front counter where a mushroom woman smiled up at him, "Welcome to Burger Kingdom, may I take your order?"

"Yeah, give me a number three, the triple cheese burger combo with an extra triple cheese burger, hold the onion on both and mushroom size it."

The mushroom woman punched the order into the computer in front of her and looked up, "A number three combo with an extra cheeseburger, hold the onion, mushroom sized. Your total comes to fifteen mushroom coins." Alexander took the small pouch of coins from his pocket, counted out fifteen coins, and handed them to the woman at the counter, once she had given him his receipt he walked over to the end of the counter waiting for his order to come up. Whenever Alexander had down time and he was alone, much of it was spent thinking. He mostly thought about things such as his family, their future together, any upcoming missions, matters of that nature. This time it was different though, now he was thinking, of all things, about Earth. Absentmindedly taking the tray as his order number was called a few minutes later he thought about New York, his old stomping ground. He was actually starting to miss it, even though he felt more at home here than he ever had on Earth, New york was his home in a manner of speaking as well. He had been born and raised there after all. He had also been thinking about his friend Trevor, stopping by the drink station he filled his cup with a pale carbonated beverage called Mushroom Fizz... reminded him on Mountain Dew.

He took a seat at an empty table behind the drink dispenser and began to think about his friend Trevor as she shoved some fries into his mouth. He had met his friend when he was working at Happy Burger, he had come by to repair a faulty cable line and the two had struck up a conversation before Alexander had clocked in for work. They seemed to hit things off rather well and had become fast friends, remaining close in the years that followed. Trevor was really the only close friend Alexander had had on Earth, he was curious about what his old friend was up to. Considering how hungry he was combined with his physically demanding career the first burger and most of the fries lasted about three minutes, after that he washed everything down with half his drink, not even bothering to use a straw. He only waited a minute or so before unwrapping the second burger and consuming nearly half of it in three bites. Another thing he had noticed since coming to Mushroom World was that he was becoming rather picky about his dietary habits. Not so much in trying to avoid calories, he normally abstained from things like fast food because of all the grease, the mountains of red meat he ate in Koopa Castle were well cooked and prepared and as it wasn't loaded down with steroids and growth hormones like American beef it was actually good for him. However at this point in time food was food and he wasn't in the position or mood to be picky.

After his second burger, remaining fries, and other half of his drink had been finished Alexander sat back in his chair for a moment letting his food settle. The amount of food he had eaten was just right as well, not too much or too little and it was making him slightly drowsy as a result. "... you hear about what Prince Ludwig did at the last tennis tournament? Had the nerve to try and upstage Princess Peach." The mention of Ludwig was enough to make Alexander look over at two young Mushroom women that were talking somewhat loudly between one another at the next table. They were both wearing the same pink outfit most of them wore and appeared to be in their mid-teens. "Yeah, that goofy looking thing actually thought he could beat Princess Peach, what a loser."

"That's a Koopa for ya." At that the two of them started to laugh. Alexander remembered the tennis match they were talking about even though he hadn't attended personally. He hadn't been invited to participate and was glad for it, he found tennis to be almost as brain numbing as golf. He decided a little attitude check was in order, though he refrained from going ballistic, something that might not have happened had they made fun of his wife Wendy. Standing up from his seat he slid the chair out from beneath him with his legs and took a few steps closing the distance between the table to his left. Both Mushroom women stopped chattering and looked up at him curiously. With a deceptively friendly smile he reached down taking the tray of food in front of the one who had made fun of Ludwig, holding it over her head he bent both sides up until the tray snapped in half with a loud pop and dumped everything over top of the young woman. "What the fungus? What's your problem man?" the young girl said, as the food splattered all over her.

"Next time you decide to insult a Koopa Prince make sure it's not within ear shot of a Koopa citizen you moron!" In light of the fact most of the people in Burger Kingdom were now looking at the three of them Alexander decided to leave the situation as it was. He'd made his point and any further disruptions would likely bring the town guard down on him, so he left his own tray where it was and left the same way he had entered. That was something else he had noticed about himself, once upon a time he had a real personal taboo about hitting or otherwise doing cruel things to women, now he was an equal opportunity terrorist. At least he was practicing gender equality. Walking down the street and pondering his next move he had walked several block when he noticed, almost subconsciously, that there were a trio of goomba following him from a distance. When he turned to look at them, they made no attempt to hide the fact that they were looking at him as well. "The hell do you want?" After being directly addressed the trio walked up to Alexander. They all looked like your average goomba, brown with black feet, and the two in the back were average height coming up to about Alexander's waist, the lead goomba was about half a head taller than his companions.

"You dat dude what wasted dem Fit Street Shells?"

"Fifth Street Shells? What are you some sort of gang or something?"

"Wat? Screw dat, we's da Sout Side Goombas."

"Anyone ever tell you you talk like Roy Koopa?"

"Really? Tanks." the goomba grinned.

"So what do you want with me? If you're looking for trouble then you have so come to the right place."

"Naw, ain't nutin' like dat. We done heard da shells tried ta rough ya up for working their turf and you messed'em up sumpin' fierce."

"That's right, if you value waking up tomorrow, don't fuck with me. Word really travels that fast around here?"

"Betta believe it, 'specially when some snowball human done did da deed."

The crude reference to Alexander's hair had always been, and still was, a sore spot with him. Narrowing his eyes he growled audibly at the trio of goomba.

"Take it easy, we was just wantin' ta know if yous independent, or if another crew be tryin' to muscle into da action here."

"I'm independent, and from out of town. I didn't know I was on FSS turf at the time, I was just trying to make to make some pocket money. Guy's gotta eat you know."

"Word, so is you lookin' ta hook up with a serious crew?"

Now Alexander was beginning to see the bigger picture here, no doubt these two street gangs were at odds with one another and they were looking to recruit more muscle to help their cause. It was really quite funny to Alexander as he didn't even know there were street gangs in the Kingdom. Considering the size of Mushroom City it really didn't surprise him though. While he wasn't interested in joining a street gang as he was already part of a much larger gang, it occurred to him that this might provide an interesting diversion for him while he was here. Having an inside ear to organized crime here in the city could also prove useful later on once everything else had been properly sorted out. "Mushroom City is only a temporary lay over, I have vested interests elsewhere that require my attention. I'm only going to be here for a day, maybe two, before heading out again. I wouldn't be opposed to a little freelance work while I'm here though if the price is right."

"How much we talkin' 'bout?"

"Say... one-hundred coins a day?"

"One-hunerd coins? Das a king's ransom."

"For what I'm capable of, one-hundred coins a day is a bargain basement deal."

"We'll have ta talk to our boss about dat." The lead Goomba nodded for Alexander to follow as he began to make his way back in the direction they had come from. He followed behind the others, quietly thinking about the situation. Organized crime could actually prove to be useful in the long run... with proper leadership of course, for now though, he was simply going to scout the territory and get the lay of the land. The best thing to do for the time being is to figure out who was where, what each side controlled, and who the enemies of who were. Before they got back to Burger Kingdom the three Goombas turned down an nearby alley that lead into a series of back alleys and things appeared to become somewhat seedier almost from the start. Unlike the alley where he had encountered the Fifth Street Shells this area of the city appeared to be dirtier and grittier. After a few more turns he noticed several more Goombas who were seemingly loitering in the general area. They all looked him over carefully as he passed by although he paid them no mind. The trio he was following eventually came to a dingy red metal door at the end of the alley with an slot in it that was about eye level, the lead Goomba kicked it several times and waited.

Moments later the slot opened and Alexander could see what appeared to be a human looking out at the four of them, content with the beings he saw the door swung open to allow them access. "So all the South Side Goombas aren't Goombas?"

"We sometimes make exception fa people wit particular skills."

"Like what?"

"Hands."

Alexander had to make it a point not to snicker at that, as he made his way into the poorly lit room, unfurnished room, he could see a number of mushroom and turtle people slumped around the room seemingly in a daze. "What's wrong with them?"

"Nothin, they jus enjoyin' onea our many fine products." It didn't take Alexander long to realize they were referring to drugs, something he mentally scowled about. There were a lot of things he was willing to do in order to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, but poisoning the people with drugs wasn't one of them. It wasn't something Bowser permitted either, drug trafficking would get someone in the Dark Lands a sentence in a hard labor camp that could last for decades... without hope for early release. It was an effective deterrent. He decided to keep his mouth shut and just go with the program for the time being, best not to mouth off before getting the information you're after. There were doors in all four walls, but the one he was lead to was to his left. From there they entered a dimly lit hall with a single door at the very end that was guarded by two exceedingly unfriendly looking goomba. They entered a large well lit room with two more goomba guards on either side of the door there as well. The inside looked almost spotless with a polished hardwood floor, directly in front of all of them was a goomba that was absolutely massive, at least two heads taller than Alexander who stood an even six foot. He was seated on a pile of multicolored pillows wearing what looked like solid gold shoes with a pair of scantly clad turtle women snuggled up to either side of him. There were smaller piles of pillows to the left where goomba and turtle women lounged about, and to the left was a table where a three humans sat, they were playing cards and smoking cigars but it didn't escape Alexander's notice that they were also heavily armed.

Alexander couldn't help smirking to himself, a petty little crime lord trying to act like he was a big fish. The large goomba looked at the four of them as they entered. "Who is this?" he demanded. The lead goomba approached and bowed before speaking, "Dis is da guy yous wanted ta see boss, da one dat wasted dem shells real easy."

"Ah, so this is the human that has the shells in such an uproar."

"Uproar, over beating up two of their men? I could have easily killed them but I didn't," Alexander said.

"Beating them up is more than enough little human, the shells pride themselves on their physical prowess. To have two of the numbers defeated so easily has caused quite a stir among their ranks. So my associate here tell me you're looking for some work, on what sort of terms?"

"Freelance, I'm only going to be in town for a day or two. I have pressing matters of my own that can't be put off any longer."

"I see, and how much are you looking for, for these services?"

"As I told your smaller friend here, about one-hundred coins a day should do it."

The large Goomba's eyes widened for a moment upon hearing this before he leaned forward, "One-hundred coins a day is mighty steep, Roc over here," he said, motioning to one of the humans with a nod, "is my best body guard and I only pay him twenty-five."

"For what I'm capable of, one-hundred coins is a steal."

"And exactly what are you capable of?"

"Assaulting targets, be they people or locations, espionage, strong-arm tactics, terrorism, I have military training."

"Which military?"

"If you don't know then you don't need to know."

"You got some brass on you human."

"You think I'm joking? Test me."

"Alright, Roc," he said, looking over at the human, "take this guy down a peg or two."

Alexander looked over boredly as the human set down both his cards and cigar. He was young as well, looked to be in his mid to late twenties with short, light brown hair that was neatly combed. His face was square and well built with narrow eyes and nose, a slender mouth, and cleft chin. He wore a red, short sleeved shirt with blue cargo pants, and black boots, and sported a muscular build. There was a night stick at his side which had at least two dozen nails driven through it and it was the weapon he drew as he approached Alexander. "You ready for a thrashin' fancy pants?"

Unhooking the cape from his shoulder pads Alexander tossed it to one of the female turtles lounging on some pillows in the corner before turning to face Roc, "You're more than welcome to try." As soon as that sentence left his mouth the hired goon charged forward, with the weapon in his right hand he swung it in a diagonal arc. Alexander casually tilted his upper body in the opposite direction evading the blow, when the man swung and raised his arm trying the same motion in the opposite direction, another tilt to the other side easily avoided the second blow. At first Alexander wasn't sure if this Roc fellow would be a challenge or not, now he was a little disappointed. The man relied mostly on speed and little on skill, while he was fast his style and technique was crude at best. The following blow, a side swing to the head, resulted in Alexander spinning around as he ducked. Extending a leg as he moved his foot connected with Roc's right ankle and took his entire leg out from under him sending the young man crashing to the floor as he stood up in the exact place he had been the whole time.

When Roc tried to swing the spiked nightstick at his legs he did the same as he had with the mushroom guard in Lilliona, he slammed his heel down on the section without nails and broke the weapon in half. "Is that it? If that's the best you can do, then you are being seriously overpaid."

"What? Why you-!" Roc quickly made it to his feet and began throwing a series of jabs and hooks that were easily avoided by either batting them aside, or mere tilts of the head to one side or the other. Alexander pushed the young man back soon after and pointed a finger at him, "Stop," he said, which was enough to catch his attention and make him do just that. Next he pointed to the another black haired human with black sitting at the table watching the fight. "Come on let's go, you too." The man looked over at the boss goomba who nodded, with that he stood and walked toward Alexander drawing the pair of hammers that hung at his sides. When both thugs charged at the same time Alexander decided it was time to stop messing around and fight back, not that this was going to be much of a fight to begin with. As he had predicted, Roc was the faster of the two and took a small lead over the other, when he swung his fist at Alexander's jaw it was merely a matter of catching the fist to start. With the second human coming up behind him with one weapon raised over his head he grabbed Roc by his shirt with his free hand, then tilted back pulling him into position where he was standing as the weapon came down.

Instead of hitting Alexander in the head the second thug managed to smash his weapon into Roc's shoulder hard enough to break it as bone gave way to metal with a loud cracking sound. The young man let out a loud scream as his partner winched and was summarily tossed aside like a sack of potatoes. When the second hammer was swung Alexander caught the man's arm and dug his thumb into the pressure point just below the hand forcing him to release his grip, grabbed the weapon with his free hand and swung it broad side slamming the hammer into the side of its owner head hard enough to knock him out in a single swing. "Oh sit down." With both body guards out of the picture he turned to the boss goomba and held his arms out as if to say 'See, I told you so.' Needless to say the crime lord wasn't happy, though it wasn't with Alexander, it was with how easily his so called body guards had been knocked out.

"Well it appears you have the skill to back you claims, one-hundred coins a day appears to be a good deal... for the moment."

"Whey'd you learn ta fight like dat?" one goomba asked as he waddled over.

Looking over to the mushroom who had introduced him to begin with he arched an eyebrow, "Like I said, military training." Although Alexander had taken some military training courses such as strategy and leadership back home, in truth most of his skill came from practical experience fending off numerous bullies as a child. The other thing that had also contributed considerably to his physical combat abilities were the almost relentless fights against the Stinit. "Alright, front me a day's pay and I can get started right now. That little sparring match put me in the mood to do some serious damage."

"Before we get started, what do we call you?" the boss goomba asked.

"Franklin."


	13. Chapter XII

Despite Alexander's desire to do some serious damage the boss goomba decided it was best to agree on a plan of action before unleashing the troops, so they discussed a variety of targets and finally settled on a small facility the Shells used to produce their own illegal narcotics. The entire plotting session consisted of gang members mostly bitching and cussing at one another, this only lowered his opinion of the boss goomba as he rarely forced them to shut up. These idiots were about as unprofessional and undisciplined as they came, the term 'organized crime' barely applied here. Alexander still hated the idea of helping people like this, but it served several purposes, first and foremost he was gathering information on the organized crime elements that he could use to his advantage later on, it kept him occupied while he was here, and it this little strike would help him to curtail a small portion of the drug trade. The more he got involved with his job the more he liked it, in time Alexander found the power, prestige, and ability to cause havoc was actually very addictive in and of itself. He was becoming quite violent by nature towards the Mushroom Kingdom and its people... and he liked it. After the target had been decided upon 'Franklin' and a small collection of goomba waited to strike at their target under the cover of night.

As he moved through the back alleys of the city it occurred to him that ever since coming to Mushroom World that his life had been filled with an unusual amount of violence and destruction. It seemed he was always fighting against someone or something, and oddly enough he was good at it. Was this what he was meant to do? Was this his purpose in life, to fight, kill, and destroy? He wanted to build a future for his daughter, yet it seemed he was always destroying rather than creating. He hoped that in time when the Mushroom Kingdom was conquered that it would give him a chance to settle down and focus on his interior life, he wanted to spend time with his family rather than always being off on some adventure. Alexander almost bumped into one of the five goomba in front of him as they came to a stop, snapping back to the present he looked around briefly to gather his surroundings. The small group was standing just inside an alley that opened up into a paved lot where a single two story building stood. It looked as though it had been a factory of some sort once upon a time, though it had not been used in that capacity for quite a while. Now it stood seemingly empty with all of the windows broken out of the large stone building. There were smoke stacks stained with sot rising high into the air making alexander wonder what had been made here.

Even in the darkness of the evening Alexander could see turtle guards patrolling the roof along with two hammer brothers standing on either side of the only visible door. "So how's we gonna do dis?" the lead goomba asked. Looking over at the same goomba he had met in the beginning Alexander smirked a little, "If you can provide a distraction I can get inside and do what I do best."

"We can do dat."

The goomba talked quietly among themselves for a moment before they all turned back toward the building and charged out of the alley with a loud yell. It wasn't exactly the idea Alexander had in mind as he had thought they would move in from a different direction, then he had to remind himself that the people he was dealing with were anything but professional and likely had no training real training in combat or tactics. Their straight forward charge immediately drew the attention of the guards on both the roof and next to the door, there were five altogether so the numbers were equal. Now Alexander decided it was time for some actual tactics, he moved back through the alley cutting a sharp left and quickly circled around to the side of the building. There were four windows all of which were broken out, so while the goomba kept the guards occupied he dashed across the paved ground and jumped up, diving through one of the windows. He rolled across the paved floor of the abandon factory coming to a stop in a kneeling position and quickly looked around to gather his surroundings. The building was a large open room with a metallic catwalk surrounding the second floor with a raised walkway directly across the center of the room.

In the distance he could see a series of tables with overhead lamps where turtles were working, they wore face masks and no shells, likely to prevent them from trying to steal any of the drug they were producing. He could also hear footsteps above him which meant there were guards patrolling inside as well as out. Another look and he noticed a several crates next to the tables where the workers were carefully bagging what appeared to be some sort of red powder. What caught his attention though was the sight of a number of red mushrooms nicknamed 'super mushrooms'. It became fairly obvious they were using some sort of compound from the super mushrooms to create their illegal drugs. Now came the interesting part, he needed to figure out a way to take out the guards above before taking out the production facilities, even he knew fighting from a lower position put someone at a disadvantage. The other thing was that he knew it wouldn't be long before his cover was blown and all hell broke loose, he managed to keep from being seen thus far by hiding behind a metal staircase leading up to the second level. From what he could tell there were only two guards on the walkway above him, but they were spaced out so that as soon as he took one of them out the other would immediately know.

There was really only one way he was going to be able to do this. Alexander waited until one of the guards had just passed by overhead and leaping up he propelled himself off the side of the stairs grabbing the edge of the raised walkway, flipping himself up onto the walkway he nearly lost his balance as he was forced to perform a backwards flip, something he wasn't used to. The sound of his boots hitting the metal flooring caught the attention of the turtle guard who had just passed, as he began to turn to see what had caused the disturbance Alexander charged forward. Before his opponent was able to fully grasp what was happening he grabbed the turtle by the head and twisted sharply causing his neck to snap with a loud 'crackt'. He didn't normally like harming those considered to be of the koopa species, but in light of the fact these koopa were willingly involved in the trafficking of narcotics Alexander had decided to make an exception. He had just let go of the turtle guard, allowing his body to drop to the floor when a hammer flew by so close to his head he could feel the wind coming off of it. He heard the weapon strike the guard rail and hit the walkway as he looked over his shoulder to see a hammer brother running towards him with another weapon in hand.

He reached down calmly picking the up the hammer that he been hurled at him a moment earlier. Coming from another section of the walkway the hammer brother was running fast enough that he had to use the guard rail to turn the corner as he came towards Alexander. Drawing his arm back the Lord of the Koopa hurled the hammer back at the hammer brother full force, in response the guard reached out grabbing the weapon by the handle as he continued to charge without loosing his stride. "Okay, didn't see that one coming." Despite the surprise Alexander stood his ground waiting for the hammer brother to attack, when he had closed the distance he swung the first hammer head level which was dodged by ducking to the side slightly, the second hammer swing was intercepted by Alexander grabbing his wrist, pulling him forward he used the momentum to swing around and hurl the guard off the walkway to the floor below. He was about to jump down to pursue the fight when he witnessed the guard, in a tangle of flailing arms and legs, strike the floor head first. He laid there motionless and his death was confirmed a moment later as a small pool of blood began to seep across the floor.

The attention of the workers was already on Alexander and the guards by the time he jumped back down to the first floor. Now that he had time to look over things more carefully he could see five tables with a total of twenty workers, there was what appeared to be a chemistry set on each table with beakers, burners, and bottles all connector by copper tubing that were filled with strange colored liquids. The turtles were working in teams of two at each table, one team making the drugs while the other team packaged them. He approached one of the tables looking down at the turtle next to him with a barely contained anger in his eyes. "What are you doing here? You're koopa, you're better than this."

"J-Just trying to make some money is all, times are hard, I gotta eat ya know?"

"There are numerous public assistance programs in the Kingdom for those down on their luck, and we koopa do NOT make a living by poisoning others with this filth. There are certain boundaries we do not cross, and this is one of them." Reaching over into the crate next to him Alexander took one of the palm sized mushroom and looked at it for a moment, "Is this thing drugged?"

"No, it's just a normal mushroom." At that he put it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Though he'd only ever used a super mushroom once before he knew what was about to happen. He could feel his muscles enlarging, he grew from six feet to nearly six foot seven, and looked like a professional body builder on steroids. The one thing he hadn't counted on was the fact his clothes weren't designed to stretch, to the sound of tearing cloth and leather he looked down to see that he was completely naked now and quickly removed the cape from the remains of his outfit. He used the light blue cloth and wrapped it around his waist knotting it on his left hip to cover himself, then looked down at the turtle repeating a line from his favorite comic book character. "Alexander smash!" Instead of slamming his fists into the table he grabbed the turtle in front of him and used him to smash the table, slamming the turtle into the chemistry set several piece of broken glass punctured his chest from the back as clouds of red powder exploded into the air.

Now that the drugs being produced had become airborne Alexander reached down grabbing the mask off the dead turtle's face and used it himself to avoid inhaling any of the powder, then absentmindedly grabbed his one-hundred coin payment from one of the pockets of his shredded clothes. At the sight of their dead comrade the other workers took off running for the door. Knocking over all of the tables save one, he used the last one to hurl at the fleeing workers and managed to knock several of them down before they reached the door. Next he decided to cost the Shells a considerable amount of money, there must have been hundreds of coins worth of supplies in the crates. Drawing on his own personal energy reserves and magical knowledge instead of a fire flower to create a fireball in his free hand, then slammed it into the collections of crates on the side of where the tables had been set up, then repeated the process on the stack of crates to the right quickly setting both on fire. When he began to make his way in the same direction as the workers he stepped over a number of the stunned turtles crushing either their chest or head and killing them in the process, then made it a point to stomp on the table to kill the worker trapped beneath. He continued walking towards the workers who were pounding on the locked door trying to get out and wondered why they hadn't jumped through the numerous open windows in the factory, then it occurred to him that they were afraid and not thinking clearing. By the time he knocked the door off the hinges to exit the building, he was soaked in blood from the waist down including his fists, having killed every last worker in the factory.

The two guards who had been posted by the door were laying in pools of their own blood outside as were two of the five goomba that had come with him, the other three had blood dripping from their mouths. As Alexander walked toward them he looked up at the top of the building, "Where are the guards?" he asked, not seeing any of them. "Dey just ran inside da building, you want we should kill dem too?"

"No, leave them as witnesses."

"Dude, did you..."

"Did I what?"

"Use any o' dat shroom powder."

"What? Hell no, I used a regular mushroom from one of the crates."

"Good, den let's get outta here for any o' da town guards show up."

With the commotion caused by the little fight Alexander quickly followed the goomba as they dashed through the alley back in the direction they had come from. They seemed quite pleased with themselves and this little strike they had carried out, as it would make it harder for the Shells to produce their drugs for a while meaning more people would seek out goomba dealers for their fix. To Alexander, he detested the goomba he was working with as much as the Shells, there were very few things he wouldn't do to the Mushroom People to achieve his goals, but dealing drugs was one of them. He considered the very act repulsive, he had seen the effects of extended drug use on people back on Earth, not just what it did to the users and their lives, but to the lives of those around them and the people they cared about... it was something he wouldn't wish even on his enemies. One of the reason he was helping the goomba at all was to collect information on their operations so that he could destroy them when he got home. If helping them in the short-term brought about their demise, then the ends justified the means to him.

He was thankful for the fact the darkened back alleys of Mushroom City provided cover the entire way back to goomba territory as a six foot seven human with white hair, covered in blood, and wearing a cape around his waist would have no doubt attracted way too much attention. As they approached the same alley where the goomba had first shown him into their hideout several members of the gang that were loitering outside looked at Alexander with shocked expressions on their faces. "Da hell happened ta him?" one goomba asked the other.

"We showed dem shells who runs dese streets," the larger goomba said with a large grin on his face. After another few kicks to the metal door the guard slid the eye slot open long enough to see who it was, then allowed the small group inside. The people inside the entry room that were strung out on drugs were different than before, including the male mushroom that appeared to be having a bad trip as two human guards moved away from the door long enough to haul the squirming, sweat covered addict towards the exit in order to forcibly eject him. They made their way to the left and down the hall to the room where the boss goomba was located. Alexander started to enter the room, forgetting for a moment about his enhanced height and to duck down as he had with the other two doors, his head made a small smacking sound as it hit the top of the door frame. He grumbled slightly as a number of the people in the room chuckled, sounds that immediately died down as soon as he entered and everyone got a good look at him. "Well, there's today's pay alone, twenty-four Shells that will never bother you again, twenty-two dead by my hand alone."

Even the boos goomba seemed surprised by Alexander's sheer brutality in dealing with this situation. "Wonderful news, a strike like this will make the Shells think twice about trying to muscle in on our turf. Did you destroy their supply?"

"Yes, there were about two dozen crates of super mushrooms in the factory, I torched them, destroyed the little lab they had set up and killed all the workers."

"Excellent!"

"Have you ever considered that after I killed twenty-two of their people there'll be one hell of a retaliation on their part?"

"Naturally, they'll try and fail in the face of a superior force"

Alexander was forced to restrain a scoff, "Yeah... you got somewhere I could wash up and some clothes that will fit me? This mushroom isn't going to wear off for several hours and I don't really wanna go around wearing a bloody cape until then."

"Of course, Caiar, would you show our guest to the bathing room and find some suitable clothes for him?"

The larger goomba, who Alexander now knew the name of, walked back towards door leading out of the room nodding for him to follow. The two of them made their way back through the main room heading to the door on the right this time. This door lead to another hall that looked almost identical to the other save for two doors on either side of the hall as well as one at the end. Having discarded his face mask on the way back to the goomba hideout he could detect the faint smell of cinnamon as he passed the first door on the left, the same odor the drugs at the Shell factory had given off. As the goomba kicked the door at the end of the hall open Alexander walked in behind him observing what looked like a small makeshift barracks. There were roughly a dozen cots spread around the edges of the room with several wooden tables and chairs in the middle. To the left near the only other door in the room was a television on a small wooden table with an beat up blue cloth couch in front of it. There were also twelve people in the room, three humans and nine goomba. Considering their distaste for the various turtle species their absence was no surprise. The 'soldiers' were simply milling about, some at the tables smoking and playing cards, two others watching television, and by now Alexander was used to people staring at the blood.

Caiar lead him through the dingy little room to the other door in the room and stopped next to it, "Facilities is in dere, yous can get washed up and I'll have someone find ya some threads." With a nod Alexander opened the door and walked inside, the plain tile room had a single toilet directly in front of him with a sink to the left that had a mirror above it, and further back against the left wall was plain ceramic bathtub with a shower head mounted into the wall. Discarding the bloody cape as he closed and locked the door Alexander, who was actually starting to become war weary from the relentless fighting now that the adrenaline had worn off, sat on the edge of the tub. Adjusting the knobs next to the faucet he began to draw himself a bath, once the water was the proper temperature he slid down inside letting the tension begin to flow out of his body. "It's one thing to fight for Bowser and the Dark Lands but this shit is pathetic, these losers aren't even a challenge... where's Mario when you need him," he mumbled to himself. The water had just begun to rise above the top of his legs when he heard several whistles and cat-calls coming from the room outside followed shortly thereafter by a knock at the door.

"Who is it?"

"I've got your change of clothes Franklin." a woman's voice said.

Not even bothering to cover himself up Alexander stood and walked to the door, opening it he was greeted by the last thing he expected to see... a koopa. Not the turtle species, an actual koopa of the same species as Bowser and his children. She had short strawberry blond hair that came down just below her jaw, deep blue eyes, and thick, full lips almost as large as Wendy's. Her skin was green save for the lower half of her face and the front of her body, she had a lovely face and appeared to be quite timid. He could tell just by looking at her that she was in her late teens to early twenties at most. Without even being invited in she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. "Uh... can I help you?" Alexander asked.

"Goombar ordered me to take care of you. He wants to make sure your happy for the duration of your stay."

"Sorry," Alexander said, holding his hand up to show his wedding ring, "got all the happiness I need at home."

"We don't have to fuck if you don't want to, he just said take care of you."

Alexander shrugged a little walking back to the tub, "Goombar's the boss goomba I take it?"

"Yes, he runs the South Side Goombas."

"So what's your name?"

"Valery."

As Alexander sat down in the bathtub Valery took a round bath sponge she had brought with her and dipping it in the water she started to bath him. She was attempting to carry out Goombar's orders to take care of Alexander, but this only made him lonelier. He and Wendy had both bathed one another in a similar manner, even though it really was a bath the amount and placement of touching involved usually lead to them having sex in the bathtub. Valery continued bathing Alexander in silence, using a small metal bowl to dip out water to pour over his hair. She respected his wish not to involve anything sexual in their activities and allowed Alexander to wash his own midsection. Next she sat on the side of the bathtub and took a small bottle of shampoo, popping the top she poured a little into her hand and rubbed both of them together before running them through his hair. Even though the SSG hated the turtle species Alexander imagined he kept Valery around as a status symbol, true koopa weren't a numerous species like some of the others. "Why are you working for Goombar?"

"I... have my reasons."

Alexander could tell by the inflection in Valery's tone that there was displeasure in her words. He could imagine why too, she was quite attractive, enough so that she could likely have just about anyone she wanted... including him were he not married. Opening his eyes he grabbed one of Valery's arms as she continued to rub the shampoo through his hair, "Why are you really working for Goombar? You're a koopa for crying out loud, we're better than this." Being suddenly grabbed was enough to make Valery flinch back like she was about to be struck, when she wasn't she carefully opened her eyes. "What do you mean we? You're not koopa."

"Don't let the species fool you sweet heart, I'm as koopa as they come."

"I-I don't want to talk about it."

"If you're worried about me saying anything to Goombar don't be, I like him about as much as you do."

"Then why are you working for him?"

"I... have my reasons, but those reasons are running out... real damn fast." Alexander said, letting her arm go.

"I don't have a choice." Valery said, after a long pause.

"He's keeping you here against your will?"

"No..."

"Then what?"

"My mother will die if I leave."

"He's threatening your family?"

"No, she's sick and we can't afford the hospital bills."

"What about public assistance programs, charities, loans, anything but this."

"I've used everything up, now Goombar is paying mother's hospital bills so long as I stay here and..."

"And your mother approves of this?"

"She doesn't know, I told her I got a job selling real estate."

"Have you tried talking to King Koopa?"

"King Koopa? Why would he help me?"

Leaning forward Alexander dipped his head under the water scrubbing the shampoo out of his hair, once he was finished he sat up and Valery handed him a towel to dry his head off. Once he had he leaned back looking over at her. "King Koopa has a lot of pride both in his family and his people. If he knew a koopa were being blackmailed like this I don't doubt for a moment he would wipe the SSG from the face of Mushroom World. Don't let the Kingdom's propaganda fool you, he's nothing like the monster they portray him to be, he's the best ruler in Mushroom World."

"How would you know?"

"I told you, I'm as koopa as they come. My home is in the Dark Lands and I consider it an honor to be able to live there under King Koopa's rule."

"You really believe in him?"

"Without a doubt."

"How would I get there? Goombar won't let me out of the building."

"Leave with me, I'll take you there."

"Leave with you? You really think Goombar will just let you walk out of here with me?"

"Oh I hope not, I really do."

With his bath, and desire to collect information, effectively finished Alexander stood up and stepped out using the towel to dry himself off. He was already geeting sick of the goomba, but after seeing Valery that was the straw that broke the camel's back. The clothes Valery had brought with her were a pair of blue slacks, white t-shirt, black leather belt, and sandals, a rather ghastly combination but for the time being they would have to do. "What do we do now?" Stopping at the door Alexander smirked to himself as he turned the knob, "Now we leave. Just follow me and let me handle things." Alexander walked back through the poor man's barracks exiting through the hall and out into the main room. The two human guards by the door were dressed in a manner similar to Roc, but instead of a spiked nightstick they carried spears in one hand with daggers strapped to their belts. When Alexander approached the door they crossed their spears to block his path. "Problem boys?"

"Where's she going?" the guard on the left asked.

"She's leaving with me."

"Did Goombar authorize that?"

There was a long moment of tense silence before Alexander made his move, with lightning speed he grabbed the shaft of the spear held by the guard on the right to stop him from using it, then reached out using his other hand to grab the dagger on the left guard's belt. Drawing the blade he brought it up slamming the point into his neck up to the hilt before the man even knew what was happening. The other guard staggered back in surprise letting go of his spear as he grabbed for his own dagger, he wasn't even able to draw the weapon before Alexander turned slamming the dagger he was holding into the man's forehead. Removing the blade as the second guard hit the floor, he leaned down wiping it on the guard's shirt before sliding the blade into his belt and walking out the front door with one of the spears in hand. He saw one of the goomba in the room dash off in the direction of Goombar's room as he left, he had barely made it a few yards down the third alley before he heard footsteps coming up behind him at a quick pace. He was surprised to see Goombar himself when he turned to face his pursuers, "You know, for a fat piece of fungus you can sure move fast." Behind the goomba boss were his three personal bodyguards, and at least two dozen goomba.

"What is the meaning of this? I pay you good money, allow my best servant tend to you to make your stay an enjoyable one and you repay me with murder and theft?"

"Looked at a clock recently fat-ass? Give or take it's about 12:10, day's done, don't owe you shit. As to Valery, I know you're blackmailing her by paying her mother's hospital bills."

"If you know what's best for you, you'll return Valery to me immediatly!"

"Or what, you'll take her by force? I'd like to see that," lowering the spear towards them until the tip nearly touches the ground he narrows his eyes, "come on then, take her. One at a time, all at once, doesn't make a difference to me, I'll kill every fucking one of you." Roc was the first to lunge forward growling something about wanting a rematch, the moment he came within range of the spear tip Alexander jerked the weapon up slicing the spear head through the man from crotch to chin in one swift motion, taking a step forward he drew the dagger with his other hand and slammed it up under the stunned man's chin looking him right in the eye as he spit up blood and gurgled slightly. "Just fucking die already," Alexander said, pulling the dagger free as he collapsed to the ground. With Roc laying at his feet he held his arms out to either side, a weapon in each. "Next?" No one else seemed eager to attack after Roc was killed so effortlessly. "That's what I thought, now slither back under your rock before I kill every last one of you."

"Why are you doing this? What does one woman matter to you?"

"Oh for fucks sake, how stupid are you? Military training, how easily I killed those Shells, the concern for Valery's welfare, I AM koopa you moron."

"You're koopa?" Goombar said, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"That's right, trained by the best to be the best. Now you've got about ten seconds to piss off before I loose my temper... and trust me, you don't want that to happen."

"This isn't over human..." Goombar said, taking a step back.

"Yeah, whatever."


	14. Chapter XIII

After their escape from Goombar and his gang the first thing Alexander and Valery decided to do was find a place to sleep for the night. Once they had arrived in the Dark Lands they settled for a small motel called the Dark Land's Motel, there they had rented a single room... with two beds of course. There wasn't much to the room, a pair of beds against the right wall with a wooden nightstand between them, a mini-fridge against the far wall, a television near the door, and a tiny bathroom in the far corner, not that either of them had expected much. "Feels good to be back in the Dark Lands, although staying here is... different," Alexander said as he flopped down on bed nearest the door. "Where do you normally stay?" Valery asked, sitting down on the other bed.

"Somewhere else, let's just leave it at that."

"So were you born here?"

"No, I was born on Earth, found a random warp pipe about seven years ago and I've lived here ever since."

"I've heard of Earth before, what's it like there?"

"Crowded."

"Is everything alright Alexander, you seem upset."

"I'm just thinking."

"Penny for your thoughts?"

There were a million things going through Alexander's mind when he looked over at Valery, she was only the second koopa he had ever met that didn't seem to have a ten foot tall attitude. Bowser and his children's species weren't numerous within Mushroom World save for the island of Koopa near the equator, somewhere he had never been. He wasn't used to being around a koopa that was so... friendly, even Wendy had her mood swings. "What might have been, what could have been, the road not taken. Recent event have shown me how different things could have been. I've quoted this once before, but it reminds me of a poem by an Earth poet named Robert Frost, it goes like this:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

Valery laid on her side with her head propped on her hand listening to Alexander recite the poem, "It sounds to me like your questioning the choices you've made in your life."

"Not really, I don't regret my choices it just reminded me of something that happened a long time ago. When I first came to Mushroom World and met the woman who would become my wife, I almost made a decision that would have lead my life down such a different road."

"Like what?"

With an almost wistful smile on his face he looked over at Valery, "I almost left, I had seriously considered running away from the situation I found myself in."

"So why didn't you?"

"Because I was being offered something I never could have had on Earth."

"What do you do for a living if I can ask? You seem to know how to fight really well."

"I'm a soldier, that's all I can say."

"You have any kids?"

"A lovely little girl, you?"

"Nope, don't even have a steady boyfriend right now."

With a loud yawn Alexander kicked his sandals off and slid his legs under the covers before laying his head down on the pillows, "Well I'm going to get some sleep." He wasn't trying to be rude, he was just extremely tired from the days activities, the muscular over-development caused by super mushrooms actually drained a lot out of a person once it had worn off.

"You mind if I watch a little television?"

"No."

The television came to life with a small clicking sound as Valery used the remote control on the nightstand leaving Alexander to his thoughts before he drifted off to sleep. Taking into consideration the level of activity inside Koopa Castle at all hours of the day and night Alexander could probably sleep through a tornado now, assuming it didn't hit his room. More than anything he hoped that Professor Dale's friend would be able to decipher the inscriptions inside the box soon, it was driving him nuts wondering because he knew it was connected to this entire series of events, but how he didn't quite know yet. It didn't take him long to drift off to sleep, though he smiled briefly beforehand thinking about Clawdia. That night Alexander's dreams were filled with thoughts on Peach, the Brothers, the Mushroom Kingdom, and as he had told Valery the road not taken.

As always he rose early the next morning, though today he was woken up by sunlight filtering through the window blind of the room they were in, something he wasn't used to. The motel they were staying in was close enough to the Kingdom border to allow sunlight to shine here. Valery was still sleeping in the bed across from Alexander so he decided to take a shower since he had access to one this morning. He stretched and yawned, smacking his lips a little before leaning down to grab his shirt and shoes. As he didn't have any underwear he had been forced to sleep in his pants which was slightly annoying, the legs kept riding up. He walked into the bathroom and slid his hands along the wall on either side until he found the light switch, with a small click nothing happened, blinking a few times he looked up at the light that was covered by a milky white dome... apparently it was blown.

Locating the things he would need for a shower visually, towel, soap, and shampoo, he tossed his clothes onto the lid of the toilet to his right and closed the door behind him cloaking the room in complete darkness. Before removing his pants he locked the door, once he was completely naked he slid the curtain away from the small shower stall and stepping inside. It took a moment for him to find the hot water, after running his fingers over the front of the knobs he found the H impression on one of them and turned it on, followed by the other. As per normal he barely used any cold water preferring extremely hot temperatures. The tiny bar of soap provided by the motel was enough to get the job done, so after ripping the wrapper off and letting it fall to the floor he started washing himself.

Still sluggish from sleep most of the shower was mechanical with little conscious thought behind it, his body was still waiting for breakfast in order to fully power up. He didn't think much as he washed his hair either, once he was finished he cut the water off and reached for the towel hanging on the towel rack just to the left of the shower. Quickly toweling himself off he put his clothes back on, he wasn't very fond of wearing the same clothes from the day before but he didn't really have much choice in the matter. Valery had woken up since he had taken a shower, she was watching the morning news. When he walked out she looked up, "Oh good, my turn." and stood up walking past Alexander into the bathroom. "Light's blown," Alexander said. He could hear her flick the light switch several times followed by a small, "Drat." before she walked inside and closed the door behind her.

On the mornings where Alexander had trouble waking up he began a series of stretching exercises to help get the blood flowing. There in front of his bed he started by rotating his neck to the left, then the right, next he rotated his shoulders several times with his arms by his side. Finally he began twisting his torso from side to side, the stretching caused his body to relax enough to let blood flow more freely. Soon the sluggishness of the previous night began to disappear... he was still incredibly hungry though. He stretched back out on the bed with his back against the pillows watching the news as he waited for Valery to finish her shower. There was nothing of any real note happening in the Dark Lands, financial reports, weather, several local events he didn't really care about. It was 7:50 according to the wall clock by the time Valery reappeared drying her hair with the last clean towel, only ten minutes before checkout time.

"You got any money Valery?"

"A little, why?"

"I spent the last of what I had on this room last night, I could really go for some breakfast right now."

"Sure, I can cover breakfast."

"How about we hit Shelly's, they have a breakfast buffet."

"Sounds good to me."

Unlike most places that had names somehow involving shells, koopa, or turtles, this restaurant was actually named after the owner, a hammer sister named Shelly Hubert. Both Valery and Alexander walked outside looking around briefly, they were in Koopar, one of the smaller border towns in the Dark Lands. Roughly a mile to the south Alexander could see the green fields of the Kingdom where the perpetual cloud cover began to give way. Koopar was so small because a lot of the citizens of the Dark Lands didn't like living so close to the Kingdom, many had adapted to the darkness here and enjoyed it. Outside the gray, single story, L shaped motel Alexander glanced around for a moment to gather his surroundings, he'd only been here a half-dozen times so he wasn't one-hundred percent sure where everything was.

"That way," Valery said.

Alexander looked over to see her pointing to the left, he nodded a little and started off in that direction. With a population of less than a thousand Koopar wasn't much more than a sprawling of houses and businesses, like the majority of buildings here most were made of gray or brown stone quarried from the mountains to the north. Most of the buildings lining the main street were businesses, as with most towns this was where most of the activity took place. There were a variety of open front or glass front shops along the well worn dirt road that were either already open or about to open for business. There were also a large number of people moving about, morning was officially under way. Once on main street Alexander knew where he was as well as where he wanted to go, Shelly's was only a few ahead.

Like many restaurants almost the entire front of the building was glass to allow potential customers to see inside. The walls were lined with polished wooden booths while matching square tables gray chairs made up the rest of the room. Several brass bars with a glass sneeze guards directly in the center displayed a wide variety of ready to eat food. Alexander and Valery both walked in through the glass door in the center of the building causing a small dinging sound as they entered. The floor was covered with a dull red carpet and there was a single podium just inside the door were a male turtle with a blue shell stood, behind him was a small counter with three cash registers where leaving customers paid their bills. He smiled broadly as they approached, "Welcome to Shelly's, table for two?"

"Yes please," Valery said.

The turtle held his hand out to the left and walked to a table near the buffet before setting down a pair of menus he had in his other hand. As they sat down Alexander slid the menus back towards the host, "Two buffets." The host took the menus then looked up and snapped his fingers a few times before walking off. Only moments after he had left a human woman walked up wearing a solid red knee length dress with a white apron that said Shelly's across the front, matching red shoes, and a small white name tag that said 'Camilla'. She had short blond hair and a plain face with an average build, "Welcome to Shelly's, what can I get for you today?"

"Two buffets, I'd like milk and orange juice to drink," Alexander said.

"Milk please," Valery said.

"Alright, I'll be right back with your drinks."

Once the waitress had left they both made their way to the bar, taking plates they quickly piled them up with food. Alexander helped himself to four eggs, nine strips of bacon, three slices of ham, four sausage patties, two slices of french toast, and a biscuit. Valery seemed to make due with three eggs, three links of sausage, one patty, and two pieces of toast. By the time they got back to their table their drinks were waiting for them and they both wasted little time unwrapping the silverware and digging in. Although manners were maintained both Alexander and Valery ate with considerable speed and quickly drained their glasses. Despite the floor being very busy with more tables full than empty their glasses never got less than half empty and empty plates were quickly removed, Camilla appeared to be good at her job. Once Valery was finished with her meal she sat back in her chair and let out a small contented sigh, Alexander went back for more food. On his second trip he came back with six more strips of bacon, three biscuits with gravy, two waffles, and a bagel with cream cheese. In the middle of plowing through his second plate of food he looked up noticing that Valery was watching him. "What?" he asked.

"How can you eat like that? If I ate that much food they'd have to grease and rope my fat ass through doorways."

"Work keeps me physically active and gives me a large appetite."

"I can see that."

Once the second plate of food was finished Alexander placed the side of his fist over his mouth and burped lightly. Now that the both of them were leaning back letting their food settle Camilla walked up balancing a tray of drinks on one hand, reaching into one of the pockets on her apron she produced a small black leather book containing their check and placed it on the table, then removed the third dirty plate. Valery picked the book up and looked at the check, then reached into her shell taking out a small pouch of coins, "How much of a tip should I leave?"

"For a good server like Camilla, I normally try to leave a coin per person."

Valery placed two coins on the table, then stood up with the check in hand and made her way to the front counter to pay for their meal. Alexander waited around for a moment, then walked out when with Valery close behind. "So tell me, what do you plan to do with your life?" he asked.

"I'd like to finish college and become a nurse, get married, raise a family, nothing spectacular. What about you?"

Alexander thought about that for a moment as they walked down the street, normally he'd say raise a family, conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, and get rid of Peach and the Brothers. That seemed somewhat out of place here so he just smirked a little, "I'd like to raise my daughter to be a proper koopa." As soon as he said that last part he winced saying more than he meant to.

"Koopa? You're married to a koopa?"

"Yes."

"I didn't think a koopa and a human could have children."

"It's possible, just extremely unlikely."

"I've never heard of that happening before, how is that even possible?"

"When we get to the castle you should ask for either Prince Ludwig or Prince Morton, it's unlikely they'd grant you an audience with Bowser simply upon request so speaking to one of his children is your best bet. Just explain the situation to them and don't cut any corners, tell them the truth and explain the situation as it is," Alexander said, changing the subject.

"You're not coming with me?"

"No... there are other matters that require my attention." Although that wasn't a lie, the truth of the matter was that Alexander was trying to avoid going to the castle. If his hunch was right it was unlikely he'd be welcome there, so he was going to call Professor Dale and see how things with the box were coming along.

"So this is where we part company?"

"It would appear so."

Valery stood there looking at Alexander for a time, then walked up to him and leaned forward kissing him on the cheek, "Thank you for everything. You know even if things at the castle don't work out I appreciate what you did for me, I hated being around Goombar and his losers."

For once when Alexander smiled, it was a genuine smile, "I'm sure things will work out, and you're quite welcome."

"I hope things work out for you too." With a smile Valery walked away and waved to Alexander briefly. He returned the wave and watched her until she was almost out of sight. That was something else that he had been thinking about lately, helping people in the Dark Lands. Instead of just being a terrorist for Bowser he wanted to help his own people, to make a difference in their lives. He didn't have much of a reputation among the people beyond being known as someone the Mushroom People were terrified of and that was something he wanted to change. He wanted to be known as a koopa of the people and earn their loyalty through his actions, not merely because of his title or who he was married to. With that out of the way Alexander looked around for a pay phone to call the professor, locating one outside the local post office he walked up to it and picked up the receiver placing it against his ear.

Reaching into his pocket he took out a coin from the payment Goombar had given him then stopped and looked at it. He told Valery he had used the last of his money to rent the room and asked her to pay for breakfast, he had used the last of the money he had mugged the mushroom for and forgotten all about this. "Sorry Valery, my bad," he mumbled, pressing zero.

"Operator," a voice said a moment later.

"Mushroom City college please."

"One moment."

The line clicked a few times, then an automated voice said, "Please deposit one coin for the next five minutes." He dropped the coin into the slot and waited, the phone rang a few times before the line picked up, "Mushroom City College," a woman's voice said.

"Professor Dale please."

"One moment."

Again the waited as he was put on hold, the line started to ring once more and it rang almost a dozen times before the line picked up, "Professor Dale speaking."

"Professor Dale, this is Alexander the young man who brought you that box the other day. I was calling to-" he stopped for a moment thinking about the time, "Are you in the middle of class?"

"No, my first class doesn't start until ten, the box right?"

"Right."

"The colleague I spoke of called me just a few minutes ago, he's still working on the translation, but he should be finished by this evening. Can you drop by at about six?"

"Sure, I'll see you then."

Placing the phone back on the receiver he thought that he once again had some time to kill before going to see the professor, he was trying to think of what to do when he had an idea. He had ninety-nine coins and there was a casino in Bowseria, time for a little R&R. With that in mind he continued down the street heading for one of the only two warp pipes in Koopar, like most towns in general it had been built around the main warp pipe which sat in the center of the square. Several turtles and a goomba exited as he approached, waiting for them to pass he looked down to see if anyone else was coming before hopping inside.

After a brief moment of darkness he surfaced on the other end of the pipe in southern Bowseria, capitol of the Dark Lands, to the north in the distance he could see the massive towers of Koopa Castle rising into the sky. Quickly pushing that out of his mind he headed to the left down a side street, weaving his way through the thick crowd of various locals to quickly mapped out the route to the Dark Knight Casino in his head. He'd never been to the casino before though he'd been wanting to kill some time there for a while now. It was a little hard to miss the giant red neon sign with a medieval style knight, the building was a large three stone structure with no windows. There were two revolving glass doors in the front and four really unfriendly hammer brothers standing out front, no doubt bouncers.

He walked up the door marked entrance and was about to go inside when one of the bouncers held an arm out to block his path, "Identification." Alexander reached into his pocket and took out his Dark Lands Identification Card and showed it to the bouncer, he looked at it for a moment before nodding and lowering his arm. Upon entering Alexander stopped a few feet inside the entrance and looked around. Down the center aisle on either side of the large open room were a large number of dull brass slot machines where people sat, repeatedly inserting coins and pulling the lever on the side. To his left were several long tables where people were playing bingo and next to that circular tables for keno games.

Alexander's real interest lay to the right at the card tables, walking in that direction there were at least three dozen tables where players of various species sat as the dealers slid cards across the table to them. He recognized blackjack or twenty-one as some called it, baccarat which he didn't know how to play, and then there was poker. There were tables for five card stud, and hold'em, though obviously it wasn't called Texas hold'em here. He looked around once more for the payout window, like most casinos it was in the back of the establishment and also where you paid for chips. He made his way to the payout window where there were a number of people in line, some buying chips, others cashing in their winnings. Alexander waited in line for a few minutes until it was his turn to step up to the window. He placed seventy-five of his remaining ninety-nine coins on the counter, "I'd like some chips." The male turtle at the window looked through the bar covered glass with a smile, "Any particular denomination?"

"No, mix it... up." There was an audible pause as Alexander looked noticing a number of runes had been carved into the glass. Iron bars, thick glass with protective runes, and likely other security measures he didn't know about, the casino was obviously well protected. The clerk slid a small handful of chips through the hole at the bottom of the window, taking them Alexander looked them over as he walked away, two yellow twenties, blue tens, green fives, and five red ones. It didn't take him long to find a table where they were playing low stakes hold'em, there were six players and one empty seat directly in the center of the table. He took a seat and nodded to the other players as he placed his chips on the table. He waited for the current round to end, then as the dealer began sliding cards to the players he announced, "Big blind is four, small blind is two."

When Alexander had his two cards he noticed a small yellow electronic light in the table next to him light up, and a red light appeared next to the the turtle to his left. When the turtle placed four single chips into the pot Alexander assumed it was a blind bet system designed to help players keep track of things so, he placed two singles into the pot. He barely lifted the edge of his two hole cards to look at them, five of spades, two of hearts. As the betting started Alexander waited for his turn. "Fold," he said, sliding his cards to the dealer. He looked around watching the other players and noticed the betting seemed casual, three other players folded, by the end of the round a dark haired human man two seats to his left won thirty-three dollars with three fives, two of them being his hole cards.

For the next few hours Alexander, playing cautiously, managed to stay afloat though he wasn't winning very much, poker never was his strong suit. "Cigarettes, cigars, snacks." a female voice said. Looking back Alexander saw a young female turtle with light brown skin, nice curves, and brown hair walking around holding a small tray secured by a leather strap around the back of her neck. She was dressed in high heels and a two piece bathing suit that didn't leave much to the imagination. He had seen serving girls like this in movies on Earth, but for the most part this type of sale had gone out of style along with the gangster control of Las Vegas. When Alexander held his arm up and snapped his fingers the young woman walked over to him, the prices were marked on the tray so he took a coin out of his pocket and placed it next to a cigar before picking one up. The young women then took a small cutter off the tray and cut the end of the cigar off for Alexander catching the end with her other hand, next she held up a small lighter and flicked it while Alexander puffed on the cigar. "Do me a favor and get me a double shot of whiskey there cutie."

It didn't take long for the serving girl to reappear with the requested drink, producing three coins from his pocket Alexander placed two on them on the tray, then took the third and slid it into the cleavage of the young woman's push up bathing suit top with one finger. "Thank you sir," she said. Turning back to the game Alexander continued to play until he had managed to lose everything except a single five coin chip. "What's your name?" Alexander asked, looking to the dealer. The turtle, dressed in a white shirt with black slacks looked up, "Trevor sir." The last five coin chip in hand he flipped it to Trevor, "And five for the dealer."

"Thank you kindly sir," Trevor said. Since this casino had no wall clocks or windows to help people loose track of time he leaned over to the turtle next to him, "You got the time?" The turtle glanced down at a watch on his wrist, "5:13." With a nod Alexander headed out of the casino, time to go see the professor.


	15. Chapter XIV

Striding through the halls of Mushroom City College Alexander was eager to make this appointment with Professor Dale, he wanted some damned answers and he was tired of waiting. Professor Dale was sitting behind his desk speaking with another man, the individual in question, likely the colleague who had translated the writing, was an older man with white hair, a thick beard, and mustache. Dressed in a white business shirt with black slacks the portly man almost put Alexander to mind of Santa Clause in normal clothes. Professor Dale motioned Alexander over upon seeing him enter, "Well?" Alexander asked.

"First allow me to introduce my colleague, Professor Calvin Barry, an expert in linguistics. Calvin, this is the young man I was telling you about." Thaddeus said, motioning to Alexander.

"Professor Barry," Alexander said with a nod.

"If I may ask, where did you find this young man?" Calvin asked.

"On an uninhabited island, why?"

"Because, I've only ever seen this script once before. It's origin is unknown and no other examples of it have been found, save for this box."

"Okay, as interesting as that is, what does it say?"

"They're runic inscriptions, magical wards designed to contain someone named Delivox, an ancient being of incredible evil, the mistress of time and space according to this."

"Oh shit..."

Taking a small piece of paper out of his pocket Calvin handed it to Alexander, "This is what the inscription says, translated into common." With great interest he took the slip of paper from the professor and began to read it over, he was about to say something when the box, sitting on the desk between the three of them, made a loud popping sound. All three men nearly jumped as they looked down, they watched as arcs of glowing white energy began to crackle over the decorated surface of the small object. "What in the name of Peach?" Calvin said. Thaddeus seemed to be puzzled as well, but as the energy continued to crackle over the box Alexander felt himself strangely drawn to it. There was something about the energy that was so familiar to him that he couldn't help but reach out and pick it up, when he did the arcs of energy began to flow through his arm.

"Alexander, be careful!" Thaddeus said.

Taking in a deep breath, almost like someone feeding an addiction, his body stiffened as he tilted his head back. Eventually looking back down at the box he opened his eyes saying two words, "Nexus energy." Now it all made sense to him, Ludwig had once theorized that the Nexus not only affected time and space, but also reality as well. If that were true it would explain how this little box was capable of yanking him through the various realities he had been experiencing.

"Nexus energy?" Calvin asked.

Alexander calmly extended his hand towards the top of the box causing it to lift off the table and float towards him, though it wasn't related to the Nexus energy, merely a simple levitation spell he had learned. Now all of his suspicions had been confirmed and taking the lid with his free hand he smiled, "Tell me professors, have either of you heard the theory of parallel dimensions?"

"Yes," they both said.

"Well, it's not a theory gentleman," Alexander said, with that he placed the lid on the box and pressed it into place, with all of the symbols on the box now complete the same feeling as before overtook his body. This time however he was ready for it, he was able to resist the urge to double over as well as throw-up by closing his eyes and concentrating, although he wanted to do both. The room around him only wavered for the briefly and when Alexander opened his eyes Calvin was gone and Thaddeus was seated behind his desk looking at him like he had just seen a ghost.

"L-Lord Magnus?" Thaddeus said. Before Alexander was able to answer he jumped up from his chair and ran out of the room screaming for campus security. "Here we go again," Alexander said. Instead of using the door he ran at towards the windows opposite the door and threw himself through one of them. He rolled across the ground and landed in a stooping position letting out a loud hiss of pain, looking over at his shoulder he saw a large shard of glass protruding from it. The shard slid out of his shoulder with ease, though when he tossed it to the ground he grumbled slightly, "...make it look easy in the movies." He also noticed his arms, which he had thrown in front of him, were scratched up though nothing else was serious. Taking off across the campus at a dead run he had almost made it to the front gate when the he saw a mushroom guard running towards the gate from the left to intercept him. The guard made it there first and leveled his spear at Alexander causing him to come to a stop.

"Get out of my way you little piece of shit!" Alexander snarled.

The guard never bothered to say anything in response, instead he thrust his spear at Alexander. Before the tip of the blade struck home he caught the weapon by the shaft and was about to kick the guard when he jerked back on the spear. The arrow shaped spear head flew back slicing through Alexander's thumb and palm in the process causing him to let out another hiss. Before he had time to react the guard jabbed the spear at him several more time causing the Lord of the Koopa to stagger backwards in surprise as he dodged from side to side. Next the guard spun his weapon over his head and thrust the butt end at Alexander's face, the strike came up short as he tiled to the left and the guard quickly swung the business end of the weapon around slicing it across his opponent's chest. "Gaah!" Alexander exclaimed.

Now with a wound to his shoulder, hand, and chest, he took several more steps back looking down at the mushroom guard, this little soldier was a lot more dangerous than Alexander had first anticipated, he had already wounded him twice and if he wasn't careful he could get himself killed. Steeling himself Alexander waited for the next attack, the guard rushed him swinging the butt end of the spear again trying to strike Alexander in the side, he allowed the blow to land simply tightening his muscles to absorb the blow. When the guard tried to swing the head around a second time Alexander brought his forearm up blocking the strike, with his free hand he struck the shaft as hard as he could splitting the weapon in half. He caught the front half in his left hand and began to rapidly swing at the guard, to his surprise his little opponent used the remaining half of his weapon like a quarter staff and skillfully blocked everything.

The loss of the front half of the spear shifted the tide of this little conflict considerably, though the guard was a skilled fighter his small size limited his strength. When he pressed the attack he managed to strike Alexander in the right leg twice, but considering his size and muscular definition the blows did little more than sting. The next blow from the guard was aimed towards Alexander's ribs, again he let the blow connect while he swung his half of the weapon around holding it like a dagger. As the blow struck home he slammed the head of the spear through the guard's white with red spot hat and down into his brain. The mushroom dropped his half of the spear and collapsed to the ground after that. "Son of a bitch, that was one mean little bastard," Alexander said.

"There he is!" a voice said.

It only took Alexander a moment to glance over his shoulder and see three more guards closing on him from behind. If these three were as nasty as the one he had just killed the ensuing fight could turn real ugly, real fast. He ignored the pain in his stomach and shoulder as he took off running through the gates of the college, the mushroom guards may have been skilled fighters but Alexander had longer legs, it didn't take him long to put a considerable distance between the four of them. He dashed into an alley, not entirely sure where he was heading and just kept running. Never before had he ever encountered mushroom guards this skilled in combat which lead him to one of two conclusions, either Peach was training commandos in secret, or he was in the wrong dimension again. He tended to believe the latter. After dashing down five alleys blindly he stopped for a moment to prevent himself from becoming winded and try to gather his surroundings. He'd barely had a chance to take in his surroundings before he heard the sound of running feet, "He went this way!"

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" Alexander said, taking off at a dead run again. Be it instinctive direction or sheer luck after dashing through two more alley's he came to another street where with a warp pipe around fifty feet to his left. The only problem now was the guard between him and his escape route. He came dashing down the street spear in hand as soon as he saw Alexander, running at the guard full speed he dashed to the left, then as the guard jabbed his spear at him he quickly changed directions, doing a complete spin he moved to the right around the guard and took off running again. The guard spun around as well trying to swing his spear down and came so close Alexander could feel the weapon cut through the air behind him. Without further hesitation he dove into the pipe and surfaced just outside of Cape Boomer. Once again he tried to quickly gather his surroundings and again he heard a yell from atop the walls of the small port city, looking up he saw one of the guards who was patrolling the wall pointing down at him. "This just isn't my day..."

Forced to take off running again he knew where he was now, about a day and a half south of the Dark Lands on foot. Being out in open fields wasn't the best place to be right now but he didn't have much choice in the matter, there was nowhere else to go. He had only made it about ten yards when he felt a burning pain in the back of his right leg causing him to stumbled and fall. Upon looking down he saw an arrow sticking out of the back of his leg. "They're using fucking arrows now?" With a small whistling sound three more arrows struck the ground around him and he looked up to see mushroom guards gathering on the wall of Cape Boomer, seven guards coming out of the pipe he had just appeared from, and at least a dozen more filtering out of the city. He was so amped up on adrenaline by now that he couldn't feel the pain from the arrow in his leg, wasting no time he made it to his feet and took off running again trying to get out of range of the bows.

Soon the sound of arrows striking the ground grew fainter but he could still hear the sound of feet running behind him, and soon the sound of hooves beating against the ground. It took him a moment to realize he was hearing the sound of a horse running, he spun around quickly to see a what looked like a large mushroom or a short human riding after him, possibly a half-breed, in mushroom clothing. He suddenly realized this was possibly his only chance to get away, but in order to pull this off he would have to rely on something he rarely used, his magic. Knowing what was to come would be painful because of the arrow in his leg he reached back snapping the shaft off with his hand and dropped into a fighting stance. The guard on horseback continued to ride after him, as he approached he lowered his spear directly at Alexander. He maintained his fighting stance with his fists held up like a boxer until the very last moment.

When the guard was almost on top of him he dropped both hands down towards the ground letting loose a large burst of energy from both of them. It wasn't an actual spell he had cast, mostly just channeling energy through his arms in a crude fashion, but it was enough to propel up over the horse's head. With his good shoulder he rammed the soldier in the chest hard enough to send him tumbling across the ground as he plopped down in the saddle backwards. He wasted no time sliding the foot from his good leg into the saddle's stirrup and tried to position the other so as to jostle the arrow head as little as possible. The horse, who hadn't bothered to stop running, carried his new charge away from Cape Boomer much faster than he would have been capable of on foot. As the pursuing guards began to disappear into the distance he held up both hands giving them a double one-finger salute.

It was close to three in the morning when Alexander finally approached the borders of the Dark Lands, both rider and steed completely exhausted. On the way here had stopped only long enough to face front in the saddle and nearly ran the horse until it had dropped, when he could hear the beast panting heavily he finally reigned it in to a slow walk. By now the adrenaline rush had long since worn off and Alexander was in tremendous pain from the numerous wounds he had suffered on his way here. Worst of all the wound on his stomach was still seeping blood despite the fact he had shredded his shirt trying to turn it into a bandage. His hands were shaking from the strength he had lost, his vision was starting to blur and he knew he had to get to a hospital. He rode into Koopar, the town he had left earlier that day although everything was dark now, all the shops had closed and people had gone home for the night. Unlike Bowseria, Koopar was small enough that it didn't have much of a night life to speak of.

He continued to ride down the main street of the city towards the hospital... which was on the opposite end of town, when he saw a small lantern appear from around a corner. "Halt, who goes there?" a voice said. Alexander immediately realized it was a member of the town's night watch. "Lord Magnus!" he called out. The lantern approached and a hammer brother eventually came into view, the pale light of the lantern casting an odd light over his face. His eyes widened as he saw the condition Alexander was in, "M'lord! What happened?"

"Ask later, get a doctor... now," Alexander said, with that he fell over the opposite side of his horse and hit the ground with a thud. Instead of passing out he only lost consciousness partially, laying there in a daze he heard the guard frantically blowing on a horn. An undetermined amount of time later he could feel several pairs of hands lift him off the ground and place him onto a stretcher. In the back of his mind this was the second time he had ended up like this in the past two days and it was really pissing him off, he was starting to feel like a sack of meat that kept getting the shit beat out of it. He faded in and out of consciousness a few times, but managed to keep himself on the brink enough so that he could eventually feel himself being transferred to bed as a doctor started barking orders.

Fighting against the urge to pass out he mumbled a few times before finally managed to get out a single word, "...L...eg..."

"Did he just say something doctor?" a female voice said.

"...Leg."

"I think he said leg." the doctor said.

After that he could feel a pair of hands moving over his legs, first the left, then the right. The nurse managed to find the arrow head and in the process she squeezed it before realizing she'd found the wound. Her finger on the broken end of the shaft she managed to press the tip into some nerves in the back of Alexander's leg, the pain was enough to bring him around fully and with a loud yell he instinctively backhanded the nurse hard enough to knock her to the floor. Before he was able to strike anyone else two large male turtle nurses held his arms down while a third gave him an injection, about ten seconds later his brain turned to jello and he blacked out.

When the first hints of consciousness finally started to return Alexander sluggishly began to think over what had happened. He had been attacked by mushroom guards, badly injured, he had barely managed to escape, and then he had backhanded a nurse who was trying to help him. Once the sensation to his body returned he moaned slightly and opened his eyes. He was laying in a bed with one leg in a sling, and much like when he had first arrived in Peach's castle there were two nurses carefully tending his wounds with wands. "The hell did they give me?"

"Propofol," he heard one of the nurses say, "it's used to sedate patients."

With another hard blink he looked over at the nurse who had spoken and saw that she had a very visible black eye. "Oh damn... sorry about that."

"Don't worry, it's not the first time something like this has happened," she said, smiling weakly.

"Koopar general?"

"Yes."

The other nurse set her wand down on the table next to the bed and walked out of the room. "You're very lucky you know," the first nurse said.

"How's that?"

"You lost a lot of blood and we don't have much human blood on hand. There were only two pints matching your type."

"How much did I lose?"

"About four I think, you're still two pints short, but you shouldn't notice much of a difference."

Alexander's head flopped back on the pillow and he let out a small sigh, he was about to doze off again to get some more sleep when he heard the door open. Along with the nurse who had left a moment ago, a mushroom doctor of all things, in a white coat walked in. Looking at him strangely he glanced over at the nurse with he black eye and pointed to the doctor. "There are a few mushrooms that live here willingly, that's Dr. Gillis," the nurse said.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake Lord Magnus, you were in pretty rough shape when you came in. May I ask what happened?"

"No," Alexander said, now that he was being referred to as a lord again he felt no need to beat around the bush, "I have no need to explain anything to you, just do your job." The doctor didn't seem to take to well to that answer but there was little he could about it, "Get me something to help me sleep while you're at it."

"Of course m'lord."

"Any permanent damage?"

"No," Dr. Gillis said, "some of the wounds were pretty deep, but nothing that won't heal given time and proper care."

His body was still stiff from the wounds he had received which was making Alexander grouchier than normal. There was also that fact that these little reality jumps were starting to wear on his nerves, this was the second time in two days he'd ended up needing medical attention. He was starting to feel like a sack of meat that people kept beating the shit out of, and it was starting to piss him off. Were it not for the healing magic here in Mushroom World he likely be dead by now. After writing a number of things on Alexander's chart Dr. Gillis left the room getting the messsage that Alexander didn't want to talk, it was too long before a male turtle nurse walked into the room with a small plastic cup in each hand. One was a simple cup of water, the other had two large white, oval shaped pills in it. Alexander took both when they were handed to him, he used the water to wash the pills down and gave them back to the nurse.

He wasn't in an overly chatty mood right now, at the moment he just wanted to get some sleep. Not only was everything wearing thin it was also starting to take its toll on Alexander, all he wanted to do was go home and help kick Morton's ass back under whatever rock he had managed to crawl out from under. He ignored the nurses as they continued to tend to his injuries and it wasn't long before the pills he was given started to take effect. The feeling of drowsiness overtook Alexander quickly, something he didn't try to fight. Closing his eyes he left his body relax and drifted off to sleep gently.

Once consciousness returned for a second time Alexander looked around carefully, the room was empty save for a dresser in the left corner, a rolling table at the foot of the bed, and two medicine cabinets by the door. There was also a small monitor with several leads attached to his chest, ripping them off Alexander was glad he didn't have much chest hair to speak of. Sliding off the bed he walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer, there he found his sandals and pants with the box sitting on top of them. Taking the box in hand he held it up looking it over, "You're becoming a real pain in my ass, you know that?" He then stuffed it into the pocket of his pants and got dressed, now he was down to nothing but pants and shoes in terms of clothing. Since he had access to medical supplies Alexander decided it was time not to get caught with his pants down again... so to speak. He walked across the room to the two medicine cabinets, which here large tin double-door closets, and opened the first one. There among the shelves of numerous medical supplies he took tape, bandages, a small container of iodine, a package of cotton balls, and stuffed them all into his pockets.

Upon trying the door on the second cabinet he found it locked, taking a step back he kicked the door hard enough to partially collapse it and cause the large metal container to rock back and forth. After a little prying he was able to finally open the doors, the only things inside were a pair of syringes, several glass containers of antibiotics, along with a curved needle and thread. Everything inside was quickly stuffed into Alexander's other pocket, now that he was loaded up on medical supplies he decided it was time to leave. He exited the room he was in and using the small signs hanging down from the ceiling he made his way through the pristine white halls of the hospital. There were a number of doctors and nurses moving about and a lot of medical equipment lining the walls, mostly monitors and large bulky machines that Alexander had no clue as to what they did. He also took notice of a number of patients laying in beds lining the walls, it looked as though the hospital was quite busy tonight.

Without even bothering to check out he walked out the front door of the hospital, glancing up at the sky he could see that it was still day time. Even though he couldn't see the sun through the clouds he could tell by how bright or dark they were if it was day or night. The first thing on his mind at the moment was getting some new clothes, now that he was a lord again he didn't think it too fitting for him to be walking around half-naked. Stopping a goomba mushroom that was walking down the street he asked for directions to the nearest store that sold clothing and was directed to go about four blocks south. As he was walking down the Alexander looked down at himself and noticed that he was getting larger, not fatter, he appeared to be putting on more muscle. His biceps were starting to become visibly defined along with his chest becoming thicker, not that he minded.

The store in question was a small stone building with several mannequins in the window displaying a variety of clothing for both men and women. As soon as he entered the store he was quickly greeted by a shy guy in a fairly expensive looking blue robe, he still found it weird to be talking to someone with a mask. "Good afternoon Lord Magnus, how may I be of service?"

"Isn't it obvious, I need new clothes."

"Of course, of course, this was please," the shy guy said, motioning in the direction of some rather expensive looking robes.

"Actually I was looking for some active wear, something along the lines of cargo pants and a tank top."

The shy guy looked around for a moment, then yelled, "Fredrick!" At this a snifit in a red robe ran out of the back room from behind the counter. "Get the cargo pants and tank tops out of the back room," then turned back to Alexander, "we're in the process of moving things around in the store." That much was obvious, a lot of the racks were bare, and most of the mens wear was nowhere to be seen. It was mostly woman's apparel on the right side of the store wall. It wasn't long before the snifit returned pushing a pair of blue plastic containers that were too large for him to carry. Disappear into the back room he came back a few minutes later with two more, when all four were out in the open Alexander unstacked them and started going through the contents. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for either, a pair of black cargo pants and a gray tank top.

"You have any boots?"

"Anything in particular you have in mind?"

"Plain black leather."

"Size?"

"Ten and a half."

Fredrick didn't even have to be told to go get the boots, as soon as he had all the information he needed he disappeared into the back room for a third time. The boots he brought back out were exactly what Alexander was looking for, plain black leather with thick laces. "Anything else I can get for you?"

"No, that should do it."

"How will you be paying m'lord, cash, credit?"

"Send the bill to the castle."

"Of course."

"Changing room?"

The shy guy pointed to a door in the right side of the wall, with clothes in hand Alexander walked over to the open door and stepped inside. There was a single white hall with two doors on either side and one at the end, opening the closest door he stepped inside and quickly changed his clothes. He transferred the contents of his pants to the cargo pants and with his old clothes over one arm he walked out of the dressing room and exited the store. It felt a lot better to him to be in clothes he was used to. He discarded his old clothes inside a dumpster a few feet into an alley next to the store, then stepped back out onto the street looking around. "And now to avoid anything." At this point in time Alexander wanted as little to do with this dimension as possible, he wanted to find a place to lay low and wait for this damned little box to recharge.


	16. Chapter XV

The place Alexander chose to essentially hide from the world was in the middle of the wastelands of the Dark Lands, and at night the name really took shape. With the perpetual cloud cover blocking the moonlight one could barely see their hand in front of their faces. With his back against a rock Alexander decided to take this time to just sit and think, something he hadn't been able to really do since this whole fiasco started. There was a lot on his mind, and not all of it had to do with his current situation. From time to time he would sit back and re-evaluate his life, his goals, why he did what he did, and what everything meant to him. It was one of the ways he kept himself grounded so he didn't get carried away and lose himself in his work.

Mushroom World was unlike anything Alexander could have imagined back on Earth, a fantasy world filled with dozens of sentient species, magic, and scatterings of technology. So why was he still here, was it only because of his wife and daughter, did he still want to do what he did, be who and what he was... of course he did he thought to himself. Since coming here he had changed so much, so much in fact he doubted that he would have recognized himself had he met a version of himself prior to coming here. He used to be something of a jittery person prone to being easily frightened, always running his mouth, and usually going things alone in life. He had never had a serious relationship with a woman on Earth aside from a few regular sexual partners.

Everything was different now, here he had become someone, he was important, respected, and most definitely feared. He had a loving wife and wonderful daughter, and he had gone from being a scatter brained kid to a powerful man. He was a lord, though he rarely thought about it, because of the title bestowed to him by Bowser he was technically royalty now... royalty, blue blood. He never would have been able to accomplish anything like this on Earth in ten lifetimes. He'd gone from having no family to a huge family, he'd found his father, then there was his father-in-law and seven brother-in-laws. Though none of them ever openly admitted it he knew they'd come to accept him as one of them, on more than one occasion when someone had gotten uppity with him the others had quickly put them in their place. Then there was the fact that they fought amongst themselves like no tomorrow, but all of Bowser's kids wouldn't hesitate to back him in a fight.

So that left him to think about the mushroom people and the terror he had brought upon them over the years. The events of Lilliona were still a sore spot for him, but ever since confronting Bowser and talking things over with Wendy he'd managed to blunt the dagger that kept driving itself into his heart. He wasn't fond of what had happened there that day, nor would he ever do something like that again, but he was finally starting to come to terms with it so he could move on. Despite his bravado and the things he said he really didn't hate Peach or the Brothers, more than anything they were just roadblocks to his goal of helping Bowser conquer the Kingdom. All the venom and bile he spat at them was mostly to maintain his public image.

Even though they'd clashed numerous times in the past he couldn't fault them for protecting their land and their people, had the situation been reversed he'd have done the same thing. For the most part the mushroom people were being caught in the crossfire of a war between two noble houses, not that he cared very much. That line of thought then lead him to think about his service to Bowser, the sovereign ruler of the Dark Lands. During his years of service Bowser had, at times, asked him to do things that were unsavory or down right vicious. Under normal circumstances Alexander wouldn't have done half the things he had been ordered to, but after acclimating to life here in Mushroom World he justified most of his actions as acts of war. Most of them actually were acts of war, but then from what he had been told the Dark Lands and the Kingdom had been in a state of perpetual war ever since Bowser's rise to power.

Having thought over everything the next question he asked himself was, is this the direction I want my life to take? Almost immediately his answer was yes, despite everything he had done, everything that had happened, the countless times he'd had the living hell beaten out of him his time here had been some of the happiest he could remember. He liked who he had become, he wasn't just some face in the crowd cable installer anymore, here his name meant something. Although he had no plans to do so, it did briefly cross his mind to visit Earth, hell traveling though alternate dimensions made him curious what his old home was like here. He chuckled a little thinking on that idea, he had too much going on here to run off on some sight seeing trip.

His relaxation was eventually interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming up behind him, glancing around the rock he was leaning against he saw a winded hammer brother approaching. "Lord Magnus... thank goodness I... found you," he gasped between breaths.

"Unless the kingdom is about to blow up... go away."

"Close, we're under attack."

"Under attack," Alexander said, quirking a brow, "who would have the balls to attack us?"

"The Mushroom Kingdom m'lord."

"Peach? Why the hell would she be attacking us, I haven't done anything to her... lately."

"M'lord, are you feeling alright?"

"Apparently not, humor me, what the fuck is going on?"

"The Mushroom Kingdom has been trying to conquer the Dark Lands ever since Princess Peach took power."

"Really now?"

"Yes, she conquered Sarasaland about five years ago, had Princess Daisy publicly executed, now she after the Dark Lands."

"Alright, I'll be there momentarily."

As the hammer brother started to jog away Alexander thought about the situation, Princess Peach being the aggressor, the Mushroom Kingdom trying to conquer everything. "This is... different," Alexander said to himself. Even though this wasn't actually his world he still felt duty bound to protect the people of the Dark Lands, not to mention the mushroom army was likely a threat for once. "No rest for the wicked I suppose," he grumbled, rising from his seat on the ground. Although the mushroom guard at the college had gotten the drop on Alexander he would be prepared for them this time, and he would have back-up. He made his way back to the warp pipe he had used to get here and dropping inside he came up moments later in Koopar... or what was left of it.

The town he had left only a few hours ago was now a smoking, smoldering ruin. Bodies lined the streets, building continued to burn, and all Alexander could do was stand there and stare. He was finally brought back to his senses by the sound of a moan. Looking around he saw a turtle soldier laying on the ground, he quickly rushed to the soldier and leaned down rolling him over. He instinctively winced upon seeing the soldier's stomach had been sliced open from side to side, and most of what should have been inside was in fact outside. "Who did this?"

"Mushroom... army... Peach killed... everyone."

His world or not, in light of what had just happened Alexander couldn't have turned his back on this now if he had wanted to, he was determined to make that bitch pay. "Don't worry, I'll make them pay."

"Please... sir."

"Please what?"

"The pain..."

When Alexander realized what the soldier was asking him to do he was reluctant at first, but upon looking around he could see there was no one to help the turtle. Even if there had been he wasn't entirely sure koopa healing magic could heal a wound this deep. "What's you name soldier?"

"Private Nelson."

Taking the sword that was laying next to the soldier he stood up and slowly raised the weapon. "You did well Private Nelson, you fought with bravery, now go in peace." With a single swing of the sword he brought the blade across Nelson's neck ending his pain. Bows, arrows, swords, this world was a lot more violent than the one he had come from, looking around at the weapon strewn ground Alexander grabbed a second sword. He paused briefly to look down at them, the blades were simple in design, a two foot blade with a brass hilt and gold handle, the symbol of a mushroom stamped into it here handle met hilt. Smirking to himself a little he thought it was rather ironic, weapons used to kill koopa were about to be turned against those that had forged them.

Little time was wasted as he dashed for the pipe in the center of town, he didn't have to be a strategist to figure out where the army was headed. You want to cripple a nation, cut off the head, they'd be heading for Bowseria and Koopa Castle. Jumping into the pipe he quickly surfaced inside a guard house inside Bowseria, there were no guards to be seen and it sounded like all hell was breaking loose outside. The sounds of soldiers fighting and weapons clashing could be heard, upon exiting the building it looked like the capitol was in absolute chaos. There were mushroom and koopa soldiers fighting in all corners of the street, bodies littered the ground, and some of the buildings were already burning.

There was a mushroom and turtle soldier locked in a heated spear fight that passed by Alexander, without even flinching he swung one of his swords out to the side. The blade sliced half way through the mushroom soldier's head and he dropped instantly, lord and soldier exchanged a quick nod before the turtle took off down the road. There were small scale skirmishes breaking out all over the place, it was complete anarchy in the capitol. Alexander did what he could to help with the situation moving from fight to fight cutting down mushroom soldiers. Even though they were a lot tougher here most of them presented little challenge for the determined koopa soldiers once a pissed off koopa lord added his blades to the fight.

In only a few minutes Alexander had managed to help clear the street he was on, he was about to move to the next street when he heard a loud horn blow, the instant he heard it his heart fell. The horn was a rally call to bring all of the soldiers back to the castle because the outer courtyard had been breached. Along with the rest of the soldiers he took off like a shot in the direction of Koopa Castle. By the time he made his way to the castle he could see that soldiers had already broken down the front gate, they were filtering into the castle by the dozens. Trying to fight his way through that many soldiers would have been suicide even for him, so he quickly dashed down a nearby alley. Passing by the various houses he stopped at one in particular, the windows and door had been boarded up making the adobe house look as though it had long since been abandon.

"Come on, please be here."

It didn't take much effort for Alexander to rip the boards off the door, using his shoulder he rammed the door open by the second hit quickly closing it behind him. Inside the house it was almost pitch dark, but the only things in the room where an old metal bed frame and mattress with a nightstand next to it in the far left corner. If things here were similar to his world then this house had never actually been lived in, it was built to disguise one thing in particular. Pulling the bed away from the wall Alexander got down on his hands and knees where the bed had been only moments ago, pounding on the floor with the side of his fist. He found what he was looking for when his fist caused a hollow knocking sound, quickly finding the outline of a door he stood up and stomped on it cause a pressure latch to release a small trap door.

Even though he had never used this particular passage Alexander's position made him privy to the numerous secret passages inside Koopa Castle, if memory served this one lead to a small storage room in the royal residential wing. Using the metal ladder attached to the wall he descended into the secret passage holding the handle of both swords in one hand, using the small metal ring on the underside of the trapdoor to close it behind him. The secret passage was little more than a tunnel dug through the dirt that smelled of mold and stale air. Bright flashes of light appeared in the tunnel as Alexander tried to create a stable magical light source, the white ball of energy hovering over the palm of his left hand crackled a few times before dissipating altogether.

"I really need to practice my magical skills."

Giving it a second try he was able to create a small ball of energy stable enough to provide light for him to see by. The fact he was having problems with a simple child's spell was also incredibly annoying to him, although summoning, stabilizing, and maintaining a ball of energy was a lot harder than simply expelling a large blast of energy. He made his way through he winding tunnel as fast as he was able given the limited light source he had, it was only a few minutes before he finally came to another metal ladder. With a shake of his hand the small semi-stable ball of light disappeared, quickly climbing the stairs to a small anteroom he pressed a button on the wall causing a stone door to slide open with a low grinding sound.

His initial suspicions were correct, the secret passage lead to a small storage room in the royal residential wing. The sounds of battle could already be heard faintly which made Alexander worry even more. Even if this wasn't his dimension his first instinct was to make sure Wendy was okay, the first the he did was to leave the storage room and head left. The hallway quickly opened up into a circular room with eight more hallways, one for each of the children. It was doubtful Wendy would be in her room in the middle of battle but he had to start somewhere. At a dead run he headed down the hall that normally would have lead to their room, upon opening the door he was greeted by a sight that completely stunned him... the room was bare.

Wendy's room was completely empty, there was nothing in the room save for four walls and a window. Closing the door the dashed to the end of the hall and made right down the next hall to Roy's room, there he was greeted by the same sight, an empty room. This didn't make sense to Alexander but he didn't have time to ponder the situation, the sounds of battle were growing louder. The enemy was pushing their way towards the throne room and so long as he was still breathing he wasn't about to let the House of Koopa fall regardless of what dimension he was in. With his swords held underhand Alexander ran down hall the ready to battle in the name of the Dark Lands.

The spiral staircase that lead down into the castle itself was divided by a number of floor, mostly to stop people from falling to their death if they fell off the stairs. In this case it allowed Alexander to descend rapidly by jumping the twenty feet down to the next level, following this he quickly ran down the stairs leading to the floor below and repeated the process. By his third jump he landed on the ground floor in a crouching position and began to scan the area for the enemy. The royal residential wing opened up into a long series of rooms where many of the functionaries carried out their various duties, and like many castles there were a number of blind hallways designed to confuse the enemy.

Instead of an all out confrontation Alexander elected to use stealth and knowledge of the castle's interior to his advantage. The hallway made a sharp right that turned into a four way only a few yards down, moving to the end of the hall he quickly peered down the hall to the left, then the right. To the right there were three mushroom soldiers with spears peering down other hallways, obviously lost. "Hey fuck faces!" Alexander stayed where he was just long enough to let them see him, then took off running down the hall. With the soldiers following him he ran back to the spiral staircase, dashing up the stairs he came to a stop directly above the doorway and waited. When the soldiers came running into the room they stopped in the middle and started to look around, before they saw Alexander he jumped down off the stairs with the swords raised over his head.

Just like the guard at the college he slammed the swords down through the hats of two of the soldiers causing small sprays of blood, when the third guard spun around the koopa lord ripped the swords free swinging them at the guard's neck, his head was quickly parted from his shoulders and sent rolling across the floor. "Morons." Returning to his sprint through the hallways he found it curious that he wasn't running into anymore guards. He could still hear the fighting but it appeared to be contained to specific sections of the castle, either they were being routed or they were after something very specific. More than likely they were after something very specific, and that something was undoubtedly Bowser. It was through his iron will that everything was held together and if he fell the rest of the kingdom would go like dominoes.

Alexander's current problem was the main foyer was filled with both mushroom and koopa soldiers that were fighting it out, and in the middle of it all was Mario himself. If he waded into the middle of things he would no doubt become a priority target, right now his priority was securing the safety of his king. Looking from side to side he took off again down a hall that ran parallel to the main foyer that came to a dead end, when he was sure no one was looking he pressed on one of the smaller blocks in the wall causing another secret passage to open. As he entered he thought to himself about how damned handy these things were, now he was glad he had memorized where all the passages were and where they lead. Once the door closed behind him he dashed through the darkened passageway towards the throne room where he knew Bowser would make his last stand.

Arriving at his destination he was about to press the button to open the passage's exit directly behind the throne when he heard voices. Two he immediately recognized as Peach and Luigi, but the third was a female voice that was unfamiliar to him. In light of this he decided to continue on down the passage to the side of the throne room and use the spy hole behind one of the paintings. Looking through the eyes of a painting was rather cliche but surprising effective. The sight he saw upon sliding the panel open and peering through the painting was enough to cause him to freeze in place. Luigi and Princess Peach were standing at the edge of the stair leading up to the throne in a room littered with bodies from both sides, there on the steps themselves was a badly beaten and bruised Clawdia. What he couldn't believe is that it wasn't his daughter... it was Bowser's wife.

He couldn't make out what they were saying, but judging from Clawdia's condition and the broken wand on the steps next to her, it was easy to see she had come out on the loosing end of a rather nasty fight. When Peach raised her wand above her head Alexander knew what was about to happen, without even thinking he let out a loud battle cry and tore through the painting, when Peach and Luigi turned to see who it was he hurled one of his swords at the princess. Without missing a beat Clawdia hurled herself at Luigi tackling him to the floor. Intent to continue his charge Alexander came to a sudden halt as Peach held out her hand stopping the sword in mid-air and hurling at back at him. In order to avoid the weapon he ended up loosing his footing and falling to the floor.

"Well well well, if it isn't the little human who would be a lord," Peach said. In response to this rather strange address Alexander grabbed his crotch with his free hand, "Yeah yeah, I got your would-be right here bitch."

"Oh come now Lord Magnus, surrender now and I promise you a quick and painless death. There's no need to humiliate yourself by trying to avoid the inevitable." At this Alexander let out a laugh as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "I don't know what you've been smoking princess, but the proper method is puff, puff, pass. Hell will freeze over before I surrender to a cock sucking slut like you."

"What could a pacifist like you possibly hope to do against me? This is the last time I'll make this offer, kneel," Princess Peach said, pointing towards the floor with her free hand. At first Alexander couldn't believe the way she was talking to him, then it dawned on him that this dimension was almost a complete mirror image of what he knew. The Dark Lands were peaceful, the Kingdom was the aggressor, and Clawdia was alive. In light of this he realize it was very possible the version of him from this dimension very possibly was a pacifist. "And this is the last time I'll say go fuck yourself."

At this Princess Peach held her hand out and Alexander was hurled backwards into the wall behind him with enough force to make him loose his grip on his last sword before collapsing to the floor. "...ow!" When he tried to stand up Peach pointed her wand at him hitting him with a blast of magical energy hard enough to bounce him off the wall and send him to the floor a second time. Rather than try to get up a third time he decided to change tactics, he allowed Peach to close the distance between them while he laid there moaning as though he were serious injured.

"I warned you Lo-" Before Peach could even finish her sentence Alexander pushed himself up with his arms, swinging his legs around he swept Peach off her feet causing both crown and wand to go tumbling across the throne room. Following up the attack he tried to leap on top on the princess and pummel her with his fists, as he came down she held her hands out unleashing a blast of magical energy powerful enough to blow Alexander over her and send him tumbling across the floor. Coming to a stop he blinked a few times staring at the ceiling, "So this is what a ping-pong ball must feel like."

Before he was able to recover his entire body lifted off the floor as he was whipped around to face the princess with his arms bound to his side by invisible bonds. Even without her wand Peach was a formidable spell caster and try as he might Alexander couldn't break free. As she approached him with her arm extended, palm facing him, she closed her fingers slightly and Alexander could feel the bonds tightening around him to the point it was becoming difficult just to breath. "How DARE you touch me," Peach snarled through bared teeth, "for that you will suffer!" She continued to close the distance between them tightening her grip as she moved. By the time she was standing directly in front of him he was starting to see white spots in his vision from the lack of oxygen.

"...eve... ou... oring... eath..." Alexander gasped.

Arching a brow slightly Peach released her hold on Alexander enough for him to speak. "Did I ever tell you I have horrible morning breath?"

"What?"

Now with the princess only inches from his face he did something he knew was going to hurt like hell, for both himself and the princess. Once more calling on his magical abilities to simulate the effects of a fire flower he belched a sheet of fire directly into Peach's face. She let out a resounding scream and staggered backwards holding her face, the burns weren't anything close to what he had given to Daisy but it was enough to break Peach's spell. After dropping to the floor he tried to charge forward and tackle his opponent only to have her recover much faster than he had anticipated. This time instead of holding him in place or knocking him back with a blast of magical energy, she swung her hand out in front of her sending several small energy darts at Alexander.

The attack was so fast he didn't have time to move out of the way, when the darts struck him in the chest they didn't knock him down, but the amount of pain they caused him brought him to his knees. Letting out a small gasp he felt as though each energy dart was a jagged sliver of glass stabbing him in the chest. With a look of unbridled rage on her face Peach raised one hand above her head forming a menacing ball of red energy, "Just fucking DIE already!" Still unable to move effectively from the pain Alexander looked up and he was about to say something when he saw Clawdia rise up behind. With a snarl that would make any koopa proud she opened her mouth baring each of her razor sharp teeth and clamped down on the side of Peach's neck.

The ball of red energy disappeared as Peach let out a loud shriek, summon what strength he had left Alexander reached out grabbing the sword next to him. Barely able to get to he feet he swings his arm forward slamming the tip of the sword's blade into the center of Peach's chest. Taking a step forward he comes almost nose to nose with the princess, "I'll see you in hell cunt," then twists the sword and finishes driving it through her chest. With a small gasp she finally stops struggling and the life fades from her eyes. Both Alexander and Clawdia release their grip letting Peach's body hit the floor, looking down at her lifeless body as her eyes stare blankly off into space Alexander flexes a little making sure nothing is broken, "God I've wanted to do that for so long."

It finally occurs to him to scan the room for Luigi and when he finds the plumber his body is laying sprawled across the floor with one arm and most of his face missing. Walking over to his body Alexander looks down at him, "Hmm, sucks to be you green bean."

"Alexander, where the hell have you been? I almost died in here!"

"Long... long story, but for the time being we have one last plumber to take care of."

"That's going to be a bitch, I'm not sure we can take Mario down even together."

"Bullshit, I know exactly how to deal with that fat red meatball, grab Luigi's hat." Already forming a plan in his mind Alexander recovers both of his swords as well as Peach's crown. Taking it to Clawdia he hands her the crown, "If things go downhill toss these out and start taunting Mario, I'll handle the rest." They didn't have far to go to find Mario, one hall later all three of them entered a small side room from opposite ends. There were no words exchanged between them as they stared one another down, no words needed to be said as they all knew exactly where this was going. Clawdia and Alexander immediately moved in opposite directions in an attempt to flank Mario from either side as he dropped into a battle stance, watching the both of them carefully.

Both lord and queen charged at the same time, Alexander swung at Mario's face with a right hook, having dropped the swords so he wouldn't accidentally slash Clawdia, while she came in low trying to kick one of Mario's legs out from under him. The plumber responded by catching Alexander arm with his as he jumped up kicking Clawdia hard enough to knock her back a good three feet. Instead of landing on his feet he dropped down onto his back pulling Alexander down with him and pressing his foot into his stomach he launched the koopa lord over his head. Hurled like a rock he slammed into Clawdia causing both of them to tumble across the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.

Before Alexander was able to get to his feet Clawdia was already on hers, picking him up by the back of his pants she launched him at Mario like a projectile. Instead of slamming into his opponent as planned Mario side stepped the attack and spun in a full circle kicking Alexander to the side once more sending him tumbling across the floor. "And people wonder why I can't get medical insurance," Alexander said, slumped face first in a corner. Slowly rising to his Alexander turned around just in time to see Clawdia come flying at him, then crash into the wall as he ducked. Finally able to get a good look at Mario he noticed that this version of that cursed plumper was different. Instead of being pot-bellied he was actually muscular and had surprisingly thick arms.

"Mario... you're an asshole," Alexander said.

"Thank you," Mario said.

That wasn't exactly the response Alexander was looking for, waiting for Clawdia to recover herself the two charged their opponent once more. This time they tried coming at him with a flurry of punches from both sides simultaneously, this proved to be about as effective as their others attacks. Mario easy blocked/slapped away all of their blows, jabbing Alexander in the face hard enough to snap his head back he caught and twisted Clawdia arms causing her to yell out. He then followed up with a straight kick to Alexander stomach taking him off his feet yet again and spun around twice hurling Clawdia into a nearby wall. "This guy is a fucking monster," Alexander said. About to push himself back up onto his feet he hears Clawdia grunt a few more times before she crashes to the ground next to him. "Now?" she asks.

"Yeah, now."

Playing up his injuries Alexander limps off to one side while holding his arm waiting for Clawdia to enact his little back-up plan. After making it to her feet she reached inside her shell taking out Peach's crown and Luigi's bloody hat, tossing them at Mario's feet. "Hope this little invasion of your was worth it since I just killed that idiot brother and slutty girlfriend of yours." Seeing the hat and crown at his feet broke Mario's concentration, leaning down he picked both of them up and looked them over carefully, "L-Luigi... Peach?" He looked between them for a time and Alexander could see his hands beginning to shake as he realized the both of them were dead. "I'll kill you... I'LL KILL YOU!" Lunging at Clawdia hands first Mario tackled her to the ground and began choking her, it was exactly the reaction Alexander was hoping for.

With Mario's attention now focused solely on Clawdia he wasted no time in grabbing one of the swords off the ground. Coming up behind the plumper he swung down slashing Mario across the back causing him to rear up in pain. This was follow up by Alexander grabbing his chin from behind for leverage as he rammed the sword through Mario's back. He ripped the sword out and tossed it aside as Clawdia pushed Mario's body off of her, slumping down on the floor he let out a small sigh and looked over at the man he had just killed, "Fuck me running I'm glad my Mario doesn't fight like that."

"Your Mario?"

"I'll explain later."

Not too soon after that three koopa soldiers came back down the hall being pressed back by and equal number of mushroom soldiers, though all of them stopped fighting when they saw Mario laying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. Alexander immediately took advantage of the situation, rising to his feet he pointed at the enemy soldiers, "Mario and Luigi are dead and the princess is our prisoner, call off your attack or her life is forfeit!" The mushroom soldiers appeared to be in a state of shock, but when they didn't respond he pressed the matter further, "I'm warning you, if we don't report back to the soldiers who are holding the princess prisoner in three minutes, they have orders to execute her." Still stunned by what they saw the mushroom soldiers started to back away, then took off running down the hall.

"Clawdia, are Peach's parents still alive?"

"No, a few months after she took power they died in an 'unfortunate accident'."

"Hmm, I'm sure they did, what about Minister Toadsworth?"

"He's still alive, why?"

"You there," Alexander said, pointing to one of the turtle soldiers, "deliver a message to Minister Toadsworth. Tell him we have the princess, if he wants her back bring the House of Toadstool's magical tome. We'll trade."

The turtle guard nodded and quickly took off down the hall as well, by now the sounds of battle were already dying down, it was obvious that Alexander's threat had been taken seriously. "Alexander, we need to talk."

"I know."


	17. Chapter XVI

In light of everything that had happened Clawdia and Alexander chose her private chambers to have their discussion. What Clawdia wanted to talk about was how violent and aggressive he had become so suddenly, she wanted to hear his explanation but he insisted he would only explain in private. Once behind closed doors he decided not to beat around the bush or pull any punches, so he told her everything. Where he came from, who he was, the box, the dimension jumping, he didn't leave out anything. This was mostly due to the fact he was tired of playing games and trying to tap dance around secrets that were a pain in the ass to keep in the first place. The two of them were seated at a modest wooden table in the middle of her room, there they sipped on glasses of red wine and tried their damnedest to relax a little.

"So do you honestly expect me to believe all of this? It sounds like you've been watching too much television to me."

"First of all I don't watch television, secondly I really don't care if you believe me or not, I just want to go home."

"You tell me one of the tallest tales I've ever heard in my life, then expect me to believe it without the slightest shred of evidence?"

As if on cue the door to Clawdia's room opens and Alexander's double comes walking in breathing heavily, as though he had been running. "You're majesty, thank goodness you're safe!" Hearing his own voice coming from behind him Alexander thumbed over his shoulder, "How about that?" Clawdia was stunned to say the least, she continued looking between the two of them for several moments, Alexander could hear footsteps coming up behind him. The footsteps stopped suddenly when he turned to look at his double and their eyes met, the other Alexander, who was considerably smaller in terms of physical build just stared. From his seat Alexander regarded his double with considerable disdain, seeing his build, hearing the ragged sound in his voice, he knew immediately this version of himself had lead anything but a physical career.

"And exactly where the fuck were you while all of this happened? The queen was almost killed and the House of Koopa almost fell."

"Who the hell are you?"

Slapping his wine glass down on the table Alexander stood up and moved in on his double, "I'm asking the questions around here you little shit, where were you?"

"Probably hiding in a storage closet," Clawdia said.

Alexander looked at Clawdia, then back to his double, "Hiding, you were hiding?"

"Hey, take it easy man, I'm a lover not a fighter, ya know?"

"Yeah I do," Alexander said, after which he lunged forward and headbutted his double in the temple hard enough to knock him out, "you're a fucking pussy." He stood there looking at his double for a moment, then reached down and literally ripped the spiked black shell that he was wearing off his back. "Gimme that, you don't deserve to wear it." Despite his double being considerably smaller physically, the shell fit as well as the one at home, "Damn I've missed this." Clawdia rose from her chair and walked over to where they were standing looking at the two of them. "I don't believe it, everything you said was real?"

"I told you it was." Leaning against the wall Clawdia looked at Alexander, "So in the world you come from Bowser and all of my children are alive?"

"Yes, speaking of which, where is Bowser and everyone else?"

"Dead."

"Dead, how?"

"Almost twenty years ago Bowser tried to overthrow his father Morton, he failed and Morton killed him for it. To insure that his children wouldn't seek revenge when they grew up he had all of them killed as well."

"So how did you become queen, or even survive for that matter?"

"I was attending a diplomatic function in the kingdom, before Peach came to power. When I returned home and learned what happened..."

"You killed Morton."

Clawdia only nodded and Alexander didn't push any further because he could tell it was hurting her to talk about it, "So how did things turn out in your world?"

"Bowser overthrew and exiled his father, he's still ruler of the Dark Lands to this day."

"It must be nice to have it all, myself, the kids, a kingdom... everything I ever wanted."

"Not quite, in my world you're dead, from what Wendy told me you became ill shortly after giving birth to Bowser Jr and died."

"You... you know Wendy?"

That was one of the few things he hadn't told Clawdia, he mentioned that he worked for Bowser, not that he had married Wendy or had a daughter with her. He wanted to tell her, yet at the same time he didn't. He didn't want to hurt her any further because he could only imagine how much she missed her family. "Please Alexander, tell me about Wendy."

"She's mean, cruel, vile, vicious, ill-tempered, violent, and an outright bitch."

Clawdia chuckled a little, "That's my Wendy, is she happy?"

"She misses you, they all do."

"Are there any grandchildren?"

Alexander winced mentally, not wanting to answer that question, "One, Princess Clawdia Wendy Koopa."

"So my baby has a baby," Clawdia said, smiling wistfully, "who's the father?" The only response Alexander gave was to hold up his left hand showing his wedding ring, something Clawdia hadn't noticed up until now. "She married you, why?"

"What, am I not good enough?" Alexander said, folding his arms.

"I never said that, I'm just surprised that she married a human."

"She married me because we love each other and have a daughter together. That and she knows a real man when she sees one. Clawdia, are you going to be able to handle things once I leave? My being here was an accident to begin with, I do plan on returning home."

"Yes, in a single day you've managed to bring down the entire House of Toadstool. Many of the offensives launched by that bitch Peach were over the objections of the mushroom people. She's had to suppress several rebellions, I imagine the Kingdom will leave us alone after this."

"Good, let's get some food I'm starving."

Clawdia ordered food to be brought up to the room as well as the damage and casualty reports. The bread, wine, and cheese came first as an appetizer, then about a half hour later the main course arrived. Alexander and Clawdia were presented with a variety of meat dishes, steak, bacon, ham, friend chicken, pork chops, sausage, hamburger, and condiments. It seems some things between dimensions weren't that different, Clawdia and Alexander ate like it was their first meal in weeks. Between the two of them they ate almost eight pounds of meat, bread, cheese and wine. They slumped down in their chairs slightly to let the food settle as Clawdia reviewed the reports that were brought to her.

"How bad's the damage?"

"Koopar was nearly wiped out, of the thousand plus people living there, eighty-six survived. Bowseria suffered considerable damage, civilian casualties are currently estimated at close fifteen-hundred. The perimeter wall of the castle was breached in two places with high explosives, and nearly thirty percent of our armed forces were killed."

Alexander was about to say something when someone tapped him on the shoulder, curiously he turned around just in time to see his double draw back and sucker punch him out of the chair he was sitting in. The attack didn't knock him out, but it did stun him briefly. Before he was able to recover and lay into his other self Clawdia was already out of her seat holding her arms out between them, "Enough, I'll not have the two of you fighting in my room."

"What the hell is your problem?" Alexander's double asked.

"You, you're nothing but a pussy, I can tell just by looking at you that you've barely fought a day in your life."

"Oh I see, you don't like me because I'm not a steroid driven muscle-head."

"Have you ever fought for anything you asshole?"

"As a matter of fact I have you fucking prick, fists aren't the only way to fight. Words can be more powerful than fists, I've spent years bogging the Kingdom down in negotiations to give Clawdia time to build the Dark Land's defenses. Just because I don't solve every problem by smashing heads doesn't mean I haven't helped this land."

"You consider yourself a koopa?"

"I do."

Reaching past Clawdia Alexander grabbed his double by the collar of his shirt and jerked him forward, "You are NOT koopa, you are pathetic. You think being koopa is about words, and treaties, and negotiations? It's taken me years of service to King Koopa to understand what it means. Diplomacy is a tool to be used to one's advantage, but when it's served its purpose you cast it aside. We may negotiate and sign treaties to serve our own purposes, but in the end, the House of Koopa takes what it wants." Casting his double aside Alexander grumbles and walks towards the door, "I'm going to help tend to the wounded." Walking down the hall he thought about what he had told his other self, it was true. Bowser wasn't the first monarch of the House of Koopa to take a militant stance towards the Kingdom, Alexander had never been more sure of himself than he was now and in what it meant to be koopa.

He made his way through the castle to the infirmary and took a first-aid kit from one of the lockers. Even though he didn't know much about medicine he did know to stop bleeding, which also included tending to minor cuts and scraps. As one would imagine the castle's infirmary was a complete madhouse, it looked like a scene straight out of the MASH television show. Even though Koopa Magic could heal it's powers were limited, sometimes surgery was required to treat injuries that magic would be too slow to handle. He was about to walk back out into the hall when he noticed a mushroom doctor working along side a koopa surgeon. It really hit Alexander because he had spent so long terrorizing the mushroom people, and now there was one standing here trying to save the life of a koopa.

Because mushroom magic was able to heal much faster the doctor was holding a wand over the turtle patient healing what wounds the surgeon wasn't working on. What caught Alexander's attention was how fast the wounds were closing, it was fast even for mushroom magic. The doctor's wand started smoking a few moments later and he tossed it to the floor, taking another from his surgical gown. The doctor was sweating, pale, and that's when Alexander realized he was burning through magic so fast the wands weren't the only thing starting to overload. When the doctor moved away from the table to tend to other patients he walked by Alexander who stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

The mushroom looked up at him, but no words were exchanged, instead Alexander summoned a considerable portion of his own magical reserves and pumped them through his hand into the doctor. The doctor's complexion regained some of it's color, when Alexander patted him on the shoulder the mushroom nodded, quickly going back to work. Moving down the hall he kept to the walls to allows the medics to rush back and forth to carry the wounded. Contrary to popular belief the koopa weren't as vicious as people thought, there were also mushroom soldiers being carried to the infirmary by the medics. There were more bodies littered about the castle than medics available so it didn't take long to find a soldier in need of medical attention.

Kneeling down next to a hammer sister that had an arrow through her leg he looked things over carefully. Most of her wounds were superficial, a few deeper wounds were still bleeding but didn't appear life threatening. Because the arrow through the leg was stopping it from bleeding excessively Alexander decided to tend to the other wounds first. The hammer sister looked at Alexander as he set the first-aid kit down and opened it, the wounds seemed to be causing more pain than damage. He removed a small bottle of peroxide and began to pour capfuls over the wounds carefully, the hammer sister hissed in response a few times but didn't try to stop him. Once that was complete he took a small cloth swab and began to dab the wounds clean.

Band-aids were used for the minor cuts and scraps, but for the larger, deeper wounds, Alexander used gauze and tape. It only took a few minutes to treat the smaller wounds, now it was time to deal with the arrow. Placing his hand on her leg he looked up at the hammer sister, after a moment she nodded to indicate that she was ready. With one hand on the front of the arrow to try and steady it as much as possible he snapped the back end off. The hammer sister cut short a small yelp of pain, he placed his hand over the exit wound before pulling the arrow the rest of the arrow out. This time the hammer sister let out a full yell and clasped her leg with her hands. Alexander quickly placed gauze over both ends of the wound and taped it. "Can you limp to the infirmary?"

"I think so."

After helping the hammer sister to her feet he moved down the the hall where he eventually came upon a mushroom soldier, sweating and openly bleeding from a very deep shoulder wound among others. He had tried to use his vest to stop the bleeding but blood had already soaked through and he was starting to turn pale. Alexander knew this soldier needed immediate medical attention if he was to survive. At first he wanted to pass the soldier by and just let him die, but that annoying little angel on his shoulder wouldn't let him. Although he hated to admit it, he did have a conscience. Kneeling down he placed one hand under the soldier and lifted him up into a sitting position, as he did he noticed the soldier's left arm flopped limply at his side. He knew the wound was deep enough that it had rendered his arm useless.

"I'm going to stop the bleeding, but this is really going to hurt."

"Wha... What are you gonna do?"

"I just told you, stop the bleeding."

Alexander held the soldier's arm up to press the two sides of the wound together, next he placed his hand over it. Channeling magical energy, the palm of his hand ignited, the soldier came alive and let out a loud yell as smoke began to rise from his shoulder, but he didn't try to pull away. It didn't take long and when Alexander removed his hand, both hand and shoulder were caked in burnt blood, but the wound had been cauterized. Considering the depth of the wound the soldier still required immediate medical attention so Alexander slid his other hand under the mushroom's legs and easy lifted him up in his arms. Very carefully he made his way through back to the infirmary as fast as possible, it was still in a state of controlled chaos when he entered. Doctors were tending wounds with magic while surgeons worked on the worst injuries. Nurses were either assisting surgeons or running supplies from table to table.

"This soldier needs medical attention or he'll die," Alexander said, to a passing nurse. The nurse quickly looked around the dozens of tables where surgeons were working, motioning to one she started in that direction. Alexander followed her and arrived at a table where a surgeon was closing a fairly large leg wound, when the hammer brother surgeon saw the mushroom soldier he looked to a turtle nurse, "Nurse, move this patient and finish closing." When the table was wheeled away another was brought almost immediately, Alexander placed the soldier on the table and turned him over onto his stomach, by this time he had passed out. It didn't take long for him to explain what little he knew of the situation to the surgeon.

Turning to leave he noticed a small piece of paper had fallen out of the soldier's pocket, stooping down Alexander picked it up and turned it over. It turned out that the piece of paper was a small wallet sized picture, a picture of the soldier, a mushroom woman, and a young boy all posing happily for this photo. He placed the photo back in the soldier's pocket as he stood up, walking out of the infirmary he thought about the mushroom he had just helped. Upon first seeing him all he saw was an enemy soldier he had almost let bleed to death, now he knew that he wasn't just a soldier... he was also a husband and a father. He placed the picture back into the soldier's pocket and walked out of the infirmary. For the next several hours Alexander did what he could to help those that needed it, finally retiring when he was both exhausted, and things seemed to finally be under control.

The place he decided to rest was the throne room, directly next to the throne was a smaller seat, this was where Alexander slumped down to mull over his thoughts. More than anything he was simply tired, drained physically and mentally. "You're in my seat." Glancing over out of the corner of his eye he saw his double addressing him again. "So?"

"Get out."

"Piss off before I twist you into a pretzel shrimp."

When his double decided to press his luck and reach out as though he wanted to forcibly remove Alexander, he responded by grabbing his double's wrist and squeezing it so hard he brought him to his knees. With little effort his flung his counterpart down the dais stairs and returned to his brooding. "Can I at least have my shell back?"

"See, there you go again, asking... NO!"

Not soon after that a goomba guard walked in and started to say something to Alexander, when he saw both men in the same room he stopped and glanced around in confusion. "What is it?" Alexander said. Still confused the goomba stepped forward addressing the Alexander sitting on the smaller throne, "I bring news from the Mushroom Kingdom, Minister Toadsworth has agreed to meet with you to exchange the tome for the princess tomorrow morning."

"Good, assemble the best troops still able to serve, at least twenty."

The goomba nodded slightly, then looked between the two Alexander's again.

"Don't ask," both Alexanders said.

Standing from the throne Alexander looked to his double and snapped his fingers, "I'm going to retire for the night soon, prepare some guest quarters for me."

"Do I look like a servant?"

"NOW!"

Alexander's double flinched slightly at the tone of voice used, quickly leaving the room. He watched his double, thinking it rather odd to be barking orders at himself. He didn't actually hate his double, he hated what he represented. It reminded Alexander of what he used to be, small, weak, indecisive, it wasn't something he remembered fondly anymore. He waited a few minutes until a turtle guard arrived to tell him his quarters were ready.

"Very good, if her majesty asks for me tell her I've retired for the night... unless she insists."

This was the closest Alexander had ever come to truly being the ruler of any land, he was also starting to understand the immense burden Bowser shouldered on a daily basis. Until now he had never really understood things from his king's point of view, not that he'd thought about it much. Now that he'd had his closest taste of real power, he liked it. The thought of shouldering such a burden didn't frighten him, he actually relished the thought. Continuing to walk down the hall to the guest quarters he thought more about what it would be like to be king. Even though the thought appealed considerably to him, he knew it was only a dream, Ludwig was Bowser's heir, for that matter Alexander was human by species, not koopa.

The room he had been given in the guest wing was a simple but spacious room. At the far end of the room was a door leading to the restroom, against the left wall was a small wood frame bed with white blankets, a nightstand of polished oak sat next to the bed. There was an iron bound wooden chest at the foot of the bed, and against the wall next to the restroom door was a small double door closet. Alexander locked the door behind him, turning the lights off he undressed in the dark, set his shell on the nightstand, and climbed under the covers of the bed. As tired as he was right now a shower could wait until morning.

If Alexander had had any dreams during the night he didn't remember them the next morning. He let out a small yawn as he threw his feet over the side of the bed, leaning back he popped his back several times before standing up and making his way to the bathroom. Like many people when they first wake up in the morning he was still groggy, his mind clouded by sleep. In an almost mechanical fashion he removed his clothing as he stepped into the shower. The knobs for the shower squeaked a few times as he adjusted them, the feeling of the hot water flowing over his body began to wake his mind up fully. He carefully washed himself and his hair, intentionally taking his time. About fifteen minutes later he stepped out and toweled himself dry, it occurred to him that he didn't have a change of clothing, at least not a clean one.

Wrapping a towel around his waist he grabbed the spiked koopa shell from the nightstand and walked out of his room. "Where does Lord Magnus normally sleep? Just answer the question," Alexander said, to a passing file clerk. After a fairly strange look the turtle clerk gave him the information he sought, his double's room was close to Clawdia's. Ignoring the various stares he got he arrived at his destination, pounding on the door with the side of his fist. When the door opened he expected to see his double, instead he saw a rather shapely hammer sister in a silk night gown answer the door. Young and well built the hammer sister had short blond hair. She rubbed an eye with one hand, her mouth started to move but no words came when she looked at Alexander.

"Who is it Danielle?"

"It's you... I think."

His double appeared from behind the door sliding a shirt over his head as he moved, "What the hell do you want?"

"A trade, set of clean clothes for the shell."

Alexander's double looked at him for a minute, then walked back behind the door. Danielle moved into the bathroom just before the double reappeared with a set of clothes. As the two make the exchange another hammer sister with long blond hair leaned over, "Hey babe, you seen my hair brush?"

"Next to the bed I think."

"Don't ask," Alexander said, as the second hammer sister looked at him.

After the exchange Alexander just looked at his double as he arched an eyebrow. "They come in pairs, remember?" He actually grinned at the idea of his double being involved with a pair of hammer sisters at the same time. Some thing appeared to remain mostly the same, his double appeared to have the same taste in clothes. He checked them over as the door closed, another pair of cargo pants and a plain black t-shirt, sliding the pants on under the towel he dressed himself in the hallway before throwing the towel next to the door. Now it was time for breakfast.

There was a bit of everything going through Alexander's mind as he walked through the halls of the castle, but a night's sleep had done him a lot of good. It was one of the few things that truly allowed Alexander to rest and recharge himself. Though his mind wandered his thoughts didn't seem to cover any matters of great importance. Things inside the main dining hall were a bit different than he was used to, in the absence of Bowser and his children Clawdia had filled the table with trusted advisers and other functionaries. Alexander recognized a few of them from home, others were unfamiliar to him. About to take a seat near the head of the table he stopped and looked down at a young red haired human woman.

So far as Alexander knew he was the only human in the castle, after looking at her briefly he continued to the head of the table where a magi-koopa was sitting. Grabbing an extra chair from against the wall he motioned for the magi-koopa to scoot down which he did, albeit with an odd expression. Not long after he was seated a servant appeared next to Alexander placing a plate an silverware in front of him. There were now eleven chair seated around the wooden table, servants were busily placing large platters of food on the table as everyone waited for the last of the seats to be filled. "Did you sleep well Lord Magnus?" Clawdia asked.

"Yes, thank you," Alexander said.

The chatter and low talk in the room came to a sudden halt as Alexander's double entered the room. To Clawdia's immediate right, at the head of the table, was a chair that was slightly larger and more decorated than the others, but less so than hers. Instead of taking the seat meant for his double Alexander had opted to stop tormenting his other half, oddly enough he was quite calm this morning, something quite rare for him. He was normally a very emotional man, but for the time being everything was just... calm. "Lord Magnus?" the red haired woman said.

"Yes?" they both said simultaneously, causing them to glance at one another briefly.

"I know what everyone is thinking," Alexander said, "why are there two of us. Actually there aren't, at least there shouldn't be. I know some of you might need to look this up later, but I'm from a parallel universe. I came here by accident and I will be returning home soon, that's all I have to say on the subject. By the way, as long as I'm here call me Lord Alexander." Once all the food had been brought out everyone began to serve themselves, there was an odd silence at first that was soon followed by low whispers. Alexander ignored all of this as he ate his meal.

"I assume we'll leave to meet with Minister Toadsworth after breakfast?" Alexander asked.

"Yes." Clawdia said.

"Meet with Minister Toadsworth, why wasn't I told about this?" Alexander's double asked.

"Because you're not going," Alexander said.

"Excuse me?" Alexander's double said.

"This is not the time or place to discuss this Lord Magnus," Alexander said.

The conversation in the room died down once more, breakfast continued in silence until the Clawdia, Alexander, and his double were the only people left in the room. Once the servants had cleaned the table Alexander's double looked to him once again, "Will you discuss what you have in mind now?"

"What do you wish to know?"

"Why are you meeting Minister Toadsworth and why am I not invited?"

"I've arranged to meet with the minster to trade Princess Peach for the House of Toadstool's magical tome."

"The princess is dead, you and Clawdia killed her."

"Yes, but they don't know that. I had Peach's body moved before word got around that she was dead."

"So essentially you're going to lie to them, cheat them out of their tome, then I imagine you'll try to intimidate them into not retaliating."

"That about covers it."

"So when exactly did you plan to ask me if it was okay to do any of this?" Clawdia asked.

"Excuse me?" Alexander said, looking to Clawdia.

"You know, queen, ruler of the castle, just thought you might at least ask before doing something like this Lord Alexander."

"My apologies your majesty, Bowser normally allows me a large degree of autonomy, I meant no disrespect to you or the throne."

"That's better, I do like the plan though. Considering the years of almost relentless war at the hands of Peach, the Kingdom owes me."

"I have no problem with the tome being copied, but I would prefer to keep the original for myself, is this agreeable to you?"

"It is."

"So why can't I go?" Alexander's double asked.

"Because you said yourself, you're a lover not a fighter. Once we deliver Peach the shit's gonna hit the fan like a bomb, the last thing I want is you getting your happy ass killed."

"Fair enough, I'll stay here and hold the fort."

Standing from his seat Alexander bowed slightly at the waist and motioned to the door, "Shall we your majesty?" Clawdia, who was dressed in a colorful royal red dress, stood and nodded, "We shall."


	18. Chapter XVII

Although Alexander and Clawdia could have used the pipe network to reach the prearranged meeting point, the queen wanted to arrive in style, plus it made it considerably easier to transport Peach's body using a vehicle. The limo she and Alexander rode in was almost identical to the one owned by Bowser, it was a dark green with a red flame design on the front, and the crest of the House of Koopa on the hood and either side. The royal limo was escorted by two plain black limos, one in front, one in back, both carrying ten of the Dark Land's best soldiers. Alexander was keeping to himself and his thoughts, watching the landscape pass by when Clawdia spoke up. "Lord Alexander, I wanted to thank you for your help. You've saved the lives of countless citizens within my kingdom as well as my own." He looked over at Clawdia and smiled, "The House of Koopa has been very good to me, I am, and always will be, loyal to it."

She smiled in return as Alexander went back to staring out the window. It wasn't long before the small motorcade began to slow, coming to a complete stop soon. Alexander didn't bother waiting for the driver to open his door, stepping out he looked straight ahead and saw Minister Toadsworth exiting a limo of his own with no less than twenty bodyguards of his own. When the driver did exit the vehicle Alexander motioned for him to unlock the trunk. Once it was open Alexander lifted Peach's body out, before leaving he had had her upper body covered with a burlap sack to hide the wounds. The area chosen for the meeting was the middle of one of the Kingdom's numerous grassy fields, the idea was that if they met in the middle of a field no side could hide additional forces.

Minister Toadsworth was dressed in a long blue robe with a yellow hat spotted by brown, a long mustache and beard covering his bespectacled face. Behind him were his personal bodyguards, all carrying weapons such as various blades, spears, and bows. The koopa guards were equipped in a similar manner, Alexander was also aware that Clawdia had a wand up either sleeve of her dress mounted to a quick draw release. The two parties approached each other carefully, Alexander holding Peach's body while Toadsworth held the tome under his arm. "We'll make the exchange at the same time, then check the goods," Alexander said. Toadsworth nodded gruffly, the two approached even closer and placed their items on the ground. Alexander wasted no time in grabbing the tome as he knew it wouldn't be long before Toadsworth untied the sack and saw the princess.

He still couldn't believe Toadsworth hadn't made him remove the sack first. Walking back to the queen he handed her the tome, though locked the key was inside the lock. "You know more about magic than I do, is it real?" She thumbed through several pages and nodded just before the shit hit the fan, "What treachery is this?" Toadsworth said.

"What?" Alexander said, turning around.

"The princess is dead."

"Yep."

"You told the guards inside to the castle you had taken the princess prisoner."

"I lied." At this the mushroom guards placed their hands on their weapons in anticipation of a fight, the koopa guards responded in kind. "I demand you return the tome, immediately!"

"That's not gonna happen."

When Toadsworth drew a wand from his robe, Clawdia hit the release on one of her wands pointing it at him before he could even raise his arm. This was followed by the sound of metal against metal as swords were drawn, bows strings being pulled tight, and Alexander knew he was moments from a very nasty fight. Although he didn't allow it to show he was nervous, these mushroom guards were no pushovers, things could get ugly real quick for him. "Don't be a fool Toadsworth, it's not worth it."

"Not worth it? You murdered the princess, destroyed the House of Toadstool, and lied to acquire our magical tome." It was Clawdia who stepped forward and spoke next, "Consider it compensation for all the unwarranted attacks against my kingdom, the murder of innocent civilians, and nearly relentless war over the years. There are also several other factors to take into consideration, I know for a fact the princess was a better caster than you are. If we were finally able to defeat her and the Brothers, what chance do you think you have against us?

Then you must also stop and think about your people minister. The House of Toadstool has indeed fallen, by right of succession you are the next in line for the throne. If either Alexander or myself are injured or killed here today the retaliation by the Dark Lands will be immediate and brutal. Now the question you have to ask is if this one single tome is truly worth more bloodshed and conflict. Do you want peace, or war, the ball is in your court... King Toadsworth."

Alexander was impressed by Clawdia's words, it was also obvious that 'King' Toadsworth was weighing her words carefully. He was angry over the deception, but at the same time the idea of peace between the two kingdoms was enough to make him hesitate. After what seemed to be an eternity for both side Toadsworth let out a small sigh, putting his wand away. "Let's go home."

"Minister Toadsworth, one last thing," Alexander said.

"Yes?" he said, looking up.

"What is your first name?"

Toadsworth quirked a brow at this seemingly out of place question, "Sandorimar."

The guards on both sides put their weapons away as their leaders began to make their way back to their vehicles, the two parties soon departed. Alexander was looking through the Kingdom's tome on the way back to the castle, more than anything he was curious about the contents even though he couldn't understand most of it. "What is this?" Leaning over to see what Alexander was talking about Clawdia appeared quite surprised, "It's a spell for resurrection, it can restore someone to life up to... an hour after they die?" She took the tome off Alexander's lap and started looking the spell over with tremendous interest, so now he was the one leaning over to read. "I didn't think that was possible," Clawdia said.

"I know, even with life mushrooms you've only got a few minutes before someone's too far gone to save." They continued to read for some time, when Clawdia came to one spell she seemed to become quite angry, "I don't believe this!"

"What?"

"It's a spell to cure cancer."

"Healing magic can't cure cancer?"

"Are you serious?" Clawdia said, looking at Alexander.

"I don't know that much about magic."

"Healing magic works on the basis of infusing cells with additional energy and accelerating cellular mitosis to heal injuries."

"Yeah, so wh... ooooooooooh. Cancer is caused by abnormal cellular growth."

"Exactly, using cure magic on cancer only makes it worse. I can't believe that bitch would withhold something like this."

"Tell me about it, even back home the Kingdom and Dark Land medical communities freely share discoveries." That thought made Alexander sit back and think about something, "I've noticed that the koopa and mushroom people seem to get along just fine, these wars seem to be mostly confined to the royal houses."

"They are," Clawdia said, still reading through the tome.

"How many noble families are their in the Dark Lands here?"

"Nine, why?"

"I was just curious, there are nine back home as well. I was noticing that even though Bowser's domain is divided into ten counties, one for each noble family and the capitol for himself, that things are a lot different."

"What do you mean?" Clawdia said, looking up from her reading.

"Well, in medieval England back on Earth, many of the kings relied on the nobles to provide military forces in times of danger, or at least a large sum of money to help raise a military force. Here the royal house controls the entire army and the noble families have much less authority."

"That's intentional, in the past the House of Koopa did operate in a manner similar to that. Due to a few inept rulers the royal house was almost castrated in terms of authority. Now they nobles families are allowed small militia forces to protect them, but that's it."

"How did that happen? I know for a fact that those with power rarely ever give it up willingly."

"About five hundred years ago the Dark Lands went through a vicious civil war, the royal house fought against and destroyed all but two noble houses. The two that were spared being those that supported the House of Koopa. After the dust settled new noble families were appointed, but under new laws as well. Now the noble families pay a tax to help offset the royal house's cost of maintaining the military."

"Good idea."

"So Lord Alexander, when will you be returning home?"

"Not long after we return."

If the box recharged at a set rate Alexander knew it would likely be fully charged, or close to it by the time they got back to the castle. He continued to stare out the window not paying much attention until Clawdia leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. This caught him by surprise and he blinked a few times, looking over at her. "Thank you... for everything."

"You're welcome?"

Clawdia smiled a little, "For telling me about your family, it's nice to know that somewhere out there they're still alive." There wasn't much he could say to that so he smiled back nodding his head before returning to the window. The rest of the trip continued in silence, once they returned to the castle Alexander returned to his room first. As he had predicted the box was already brimming with energy, once he knew his means of leaving was ready he stuffed the box and the lid into his pocket, finally retrieving the translation written on the piece of paper in his dirty pants. Next made his way to Clawdia's room and knocked on the door. "Come in," Clawdia said. Upon entering he saw Clawdia and his double sitting at the table in the middle of the room, the queen was using an auto-scribe wand to copy to mushroom tome as his other half was reading several pages copied from the tome. Taking a seat next to Clawdia he watched as she placed clean sheets of paper over the pages in the tome and slid the wand over them from top to bottom. He smirked a little thinking that it reminded him of a magical Xerox machine. "This is incredible," Alexander's double said.

Ignoring his double he watched as the queen continued to copy the tome, she was surprisingly fast, the stack of clean paper next to her dwindled rapidly. It only took her about thirty minutes to complete her task, then she closed and locked the tome, sliding it to Alexander. Now he was nervous, the thought of returning home had been on his mind for a long time. Not only that, he had also been thinking about the box at length and remembering something Ludwig had told him about Nexus energy. It was the same type of energy that powered the box, thereby he had a fairly good idea if he exerted conscious effort when activating the box, he could control where it took him. About to take the box out to activate it, Alexander stopped, noticing the swords he had used earlier leaning against the wall next to the door. "May I take those swords with me your majesty? As a reminder of my time here."

"Of course."

Retrieving the swords he placed then under his one arm, grabbing the tome next. Using his free hand the removed the box and lid from his pocket, placing them on the table. Naturally, a small box crackling with arcs of white energy caught the attention of both his double and the queen. "Is that it, the device that brought you here?" Clawdia asked.

"Yes, and the current source of all my damned problems."

Because he only had one free hand to work with Alexander flipped the lid upside down, the box was next, flipping it over he grabbed it from the bottom. About to press the box and lid together he stopped and looked over at Clawdia and his double, "You two take care of yourselves."

"We will," his double said.

Returning his attention to the lid Alexander pressed the box into it thinking of his home and his intense desire to return there. When the two pieces connected the small amount of nexus energy contained in the box started to arc up his arm, in that same instant Clawdia placed her hand on Alexander's shoulder and started to say something. Before she was able to speak the feeling of sickness overtook Alexander and he closed his eyes to steady himself, though it seemed to be getting easier each time. Once the sensation had past he took a deep breath and opened his eyes... then heard a loud thud behind him. The thud was enough to make Alexander look back, seeing Clawdia laying there on the floor moaning softly, his eyes widened as he turned several shades of white. "Who's in there?" a voice from outside the room asked.

Taking stock of the situation he looked around quickly realizing he was in Bowser's bedroom, or at least one that looked like it. In a state of near panic he dropped everything running to the door, undoing the three deadbolts he opened the door enough to poke his head out and see two hammer brother guards looking at him. "Lord Magnus, what are you doing in King Koopa's room?" one guard said. That in itself answered two questions, he was Lord Magnus and Bowser was ruler of the Dark Lands.

"What's my daughter's name?"

"Princess Clawdia Koopa."

"Lilliona?"

"It's Kooparia now."

"How long did I go into hiding?"

"Five years."

He quickly slammed the door and locked it again, then plastered his back against it with his arms held out, "FUCK!" He wasn't in a state of near panic, now he was panicking. Somehow he had managed to not only get home, he had brought Clawdia with him. His mind was running in so many directions he didn't know what to do, where to go, or what to say. It was only a few minutes before an extremely powerful hammering sound came from outside, "Lord Magnus, open this door, immediately!" Bowser said.

"No no no no no no no no no no!" Alexander said. Still in a state of complete panic he failed to hear Bowser tell the guards to get out of the way. Only seconds later the wall where the hinges of the door were exploded into clouds of stone and dust as he was mowed down by the door Bowser was now standing on with one foot. "That's okay, didn't need that spleen anyway," Alexander squeaked. Casting the door aside Bowser picked Alexander up by the back of his shirt until the was eye level with his liege. "Why are you in my room Lord Magnus?"

"It was an accident, I was messing around with teleportation."

"So why was my door locked if it was an accident."

"That's complicated..."

"Uncomplicate it."

Before he was able to say anything else, Clawdia sat up, having been behind the table when she fainted, and rubbed her head, "What the hell happened?" The next thing Alexander knew he hit the floor and Bowser let out a bellow that sounded like a mixture of fear and surprise. Alexander made it to his feet and started to say something when Bowser's arm lanced out wrapping around his throat, with a loud thud the Lord of the Koopa was once again off his feet, only this time he was pinned against the wall next to the door, and scared. He was scared because of the look in Bowser's eyes, his normally steel blue eyes were now solid red, almost every fang he possessed was bared as small wisps of flame licked up from the corners of his mouth. Bowser was about the only person in Mushroom World that could scare Alexander, and it was mostly because he himself couldn't have knocked the door down with a super mushroom and a sledgehammer. His father-in-law's strength was almost without equal. "What kind of trick is this? My wife is dead!"

"an... pla... f... et... e," Alexander gasped.

Clawdia interceded on Alexander's behalf by walking up to Bowser and placing her hand on his arm, "I think Lord Magnus would be able to talk better if he could breath." Glancing at Clawdia briefly Bowser released Alexander, letting him fall to the floor. Able to breath once more he coughed violently for a few moments before leaning back into a sitting position, only to be greeted by a loud growl from an impatient Bowser. "It's partly to do with where I've been for the last three days," Alexander said. He then proceeded to explain everything that had happened in considerable detail, the box, dimension jumping, what had happened to him, and how Clawdia had come to be here in his room. When he had finished his story Bowser looked over at Clawdia, "Everything he said is true," Clawdia said, "up to arriving in my world at least. I don't know about the rest."

There was a long silence as Bowser looked to between Alexander and Clawdia, and the confusion on his face was visible. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Bowser was going through right now, losing the woman he loved, then having her appear in his room alive and healthy. Finally he turned to Clawdia and raised one arm brushing the side of her face with his hand, she in turn took his hand in hers, leaning her cheek into it. "Clawdia?" Bowser almost whispered. The two of them stared into one each others eyes for a time and Alexander almost couldn't believe his own eyes when he saw tears begin to run down Bowser's face. "Bowser... I know I'm not the Clawdia you fell in love with... but..."

"Do you love me?"

"How could I not?" Clawdia said, her voice beginning to break as tears ran down her face. In the next instant Bowser grabbed Clawdia embracing her in his arms as he kissed her deeply and passionately. Not too long after they broke the kiss there was a loud shriek from the door and everyone looked over to see Wendy who had just fainted dead away. Alexander quickly scrambled over to her, taking his wife in his arms he lightly slapped the side of her face several times to rouse her. When she came to she screamed again turning into a flurry of feet and claws trying to get away, this time Alexander hauled off and slapped her hard enough to get her attention. "Wendy, calm down!" Alexander said. She looked at Alexander, then Clawdia, and pointing to her mother she looked at her husband trying to speak, but no words would come.

By now several more guards were running down the hall followed by Ludwig and Roy. Not knowing what else to do Wendy wrapped her arms around Alexander, buried her face in his chest and started to cry, he knew this was about to get real messy. As everyone filtered into the room around the two of them Ludwig was so shocked he said nothing, Roy let out a flurry of curse words that would have made a sailor blush. "Roy," Alexander said, upon not receiving a response he punched him in the shin to get his attention, "Roy! Get the rest of your brothers."

"Dismissed," Bowser said, motioning to the guards who were as shocked as his children. Needless to say the rest of the royal family appeared like bolts of greased lightning not too soon after with a wide variety of shocked expressions and colorful swear words. "Alex, what's going on?" Wendy asked. Not entirely sure how to explain the situation he looked up at Ludwig, "Hey brainiac, parallel dimension." Ludwig blinked a few times, then spouted off with, "Many-worlds is a postulate theory of quantum mechanics that asserts the objective reality of the universal wavefunction, but denies the reality of wavefunction collapse. This implies that all possible alternative histories and futures are real—each representing an actual 'world'."

"I dunt speak geek," Roy said.

"It means she came from a different Mushroom World, but it is Clawdia." Ludwig said.

Wendy was the first to approach the queen slowly pulling away from Alexander, much like Bowser she gently ran her hands over Clawdia's face, "Momma?" Wendy said.

"Yes baby, it's me."

When Wendy latched onto Clawdia with a hug, accepting her as her mother the rest of the children mowed her down trying their best to hug her as well, amidst a joyful laughter from the queen. Alexander smiled broadly watching the happy reunion when there was a tug at his leg, "Daddy, what's going on?" Immediately picking his daughter up he hugged her tightly, "Baby girl, I have missed you so much."

"I missed you too silly," Clawdia giggled, as she hugged back.

Things quickly died down and the queen stood up looking at her grand-daughter in astonishment, then down at Wendy, "Honey, is that..."

"Yeah," Wendy nodded, "my daughter, Princess Clawdia Wendy Koopa."

When Clawdia looked over at the queen she shrank away with a shocked expression on her face, "Daddy?"

"It's okay honey," Alexander said.

She still seemed confused by the situation, "But... momma said grammy had to go away a long time ago."

"She did, but now she's back."

"Like you daddy?"

Alexander realized she was talking about his five year absence, instead of trying to explain quantum physics to a seven year old he smiled, "Not quite, I'll explain it when you get older, but it is grammy, why don't you go say hi." He set Clawdia down after that, she walked up to her grand-mother slowly at first, looking up at her as the queen leaned down. "Hello little one."

"You're momma's momma?"

"That's right, I'm your mother's mother."

"If you're older than momma you must be really old."

"Clawdia!" Alexander said. The queen only laughed and picked her grand-daughter up in her arms, "I'm not quite that old little one."

Bowser wrapped an arm around the queen and looked down at Clawdia, "Well then I guess that makes me ancient, I'm older than grammy."

"Wow, you're really old grampy," Clawdia said, to which everyone started laughing. Alexander was shocked because even Bowser was laughing, in all the time he'd lived in Mushroom World he'd never seen him do more than smirk every now and then. "Uh, what are we gonna do about munchkin over there?" Bowser Jr said, nodding to Princess Clawdia.

"What do you mean?" Alexander said.

"Mother's name is Clawdia, and my sister's name is Wendy, what are we gonna call munchkin?" Bowser Jr said. That seemed to catch everyone's attention, it was also a good point, the princess was named after the grand-mother, but now that she was back they'd have to think of something else to call her. "How about using her initials, CW. We can just differentiate them by title for formal announcements," Lemmy said. Everyone seemed to nod or mumble in agreement. Now that the meet and greet was over Alexander walked over to where the tome and swords were, slapping the magical tome down on the table. "Brought a few treasures back with me from my little... excursion."

"That reminds me," Wendy said, walking over to Alexander she pointed a finger in his face, "Alexander Franklin Magnus, where the hell have you been? You take off for three days without so much as a note? You had me worried sick."

"Next time I get sucked into another universe I'll be sure to send a letter through the trans-dimensional mail service."

"Huh?" Wendy said.

"Never mind," Alexander said, then held the tome up, "ladies and gents, I present to you, the House of Toadstool's royal tome." At this Bowser immediately held his hand out towards the door he hand kicked in, within seconds it floated into the air and bent itself back into shape. It followed Bowser's hand as he moved it back into place, following this the door frame mended itself as all three deadbolts fell into place. By the time he walked over to the table he had to push his way through his kids as they crowded around for a look. He leaned down placing both hands on the table, unlocking the tome he opened it and began thumbing through the pages slowly. "Incredible..." Bowser said. Allowing the others to look the tome over Alexander backed away, picking up one of the swords from the floor he tapped Wendy on the shoulder.

He drew the sword which was already caked with died blood, holding it up he beamed with pride, "I call this little beauty the bitch sticker."

"Why?" Wendy asked.

"Because, while in one of these other worlds I used it to kill Princess Peach, drove it straight through the center of her chest, twisted, and watched that bitch die." Ludwig popped up looking over at Alexander and Wendy, then approached them. "Did you say that was Princess Peach's blood on that sword?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Can I borrow that?"

"Sure... I guess." Alexander wasn't sure what Ludwig was up to, but as soon as he handed the sword over the prince took off in quite a hurry. Bowser snapped the tome shut shoving it into his shell, holding one hand up he declared, "This is cause for celebration! Tell the kitchen to prepare a grand feast, the queen has returned!" This was followed by a roaring cheer from everyone in the room.


	19. Chapter XVIII

Everyone left Bowser's room as a group, Alexander held Clawdia's hand with one arm, the other around Wendy. They all walked through the castle in the direction of the banquet hall, then Alexander saw something that brought him to a sudden stop... Mario and Princess Peach. He almost couldn't believe his eyes, he was about to attack until he noticed that Bowser, his children, and the various people moving through the hallway didn't appear alarmed by their presence. He stepped in front of them as they approached, "What are the two of you doing here?" Alexander said.

"We have come here to help Bowser fight against his father Morton," Peach said.

"Shouldn't you be helping from your own castle?"

"You don't know?" Mario asked.

"I've been... out of touch the past three days, throw me a bone here."

"After Bowser repelled his father's attack, Morton turned his attention to my kingdom. The Mushroom Kingdom fell two days ago, Sarasaland was next, it fell yesterday," Peach said.

Alexander was utterly astonished, "That's impossible, how could he conquer two kingdoms in two days?"

"Each time someone is struck down by one of... things he commands, they become one. The more he conquers the larger his army becomes." Before Alexander was able to say anything else someone grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around he saw a flash of green before his jaw shifted to the right with an incredible amount of pain. He spun in a complete circle falling to the floor, looking up he saw Luigi standing over him briefly before a blast of magical energy knocked him off his feet, followed by a loud growl from Wendy. Sitting up Alexander shifted his jaw slightly as Peach, along with several nearby koopa guards got between everyone to prevent an all out brawl. With the ever familiar taste of blood in his mouth Alexander spit some blood out onto the floor, but even he was surprised to see a molar bounce across the stone. "Damn Wedgie, one, what was that for? Two, what are you packing in that glove of yours, bricks?"

Without saying anything Luigi took his hat off and tossed it to Mario, next his slid his suspenders off his shoulder. Reaching down he pulled his shirt up and over his head, removing his gloves along with the shirt, this was followed by several gasps. Luigi's entire left arm, shoulder, and even a portion of his upper chest now appeared to be cybernetic. He walked over to where Alexander was sitting and stooped down in front of him, holding his arm up. "That was for leaving Daisy and I to die when you destroyed that naval yard." About to pop of with a sarcastic remark Alexander noticed Daisy approach from behind Luigi, his attention was caught by the face she was wearing a solid white mask with only one eye hole. "What happened to her?" Alexander said.

"What do you think happened, you almost burned her face down to the bone," Luigi said.

"Big deal, get a mushroom doctor or somebody to heal it."

"Mushroom magic may be able to heal better than koopa magic, but even it has its limits."

"That reminds me, I remember burning the top of her dress off with a huge fireball," Alexander said, standing up, "Princess Barbeque got any tits left?" Luigi lunged at Alexander over that remark only to have Mario restrain him. "Alexander," Bowser said, walking up next to him, "these people are here as allies to help defend Mushroom World against Morton. Do not antagonize them further while they are here."

"Yes your majesty."

Picking Clawdia up in his arms Alexander was about to leave when Peach smiled at her, "Hello little princess." She responded with a growl followed by, "Go away you cum guzzling gutter slut." Naturally this caused everyone to look at her in surprise. "Clawdia Wendy Koopa, where did you learn to talk like that?" Alexander asked.

"That's what momma calls her."

"Oh, Alexander said, walking away, "what an interesting description."

Now that the little confrontation was over with Alexander and the koopas continued in the direction of the banquet hall with Peach, Daisy, and the Brothers following at a considerable distance. Wario and Waluigi were also spotted walking into the banquet hall which made Alexander wonder just how much territory Morton had managed to conquer in the three days he had been gone. The banquet hall of Koopa Castle was much larger and more opulent than the dining room the royal family normally ate in. There were three tables capable of seating more than sixty people, chandeliers made of pure crystal hanging from the vaulted ceiling, along with a number of banners and family pictures lining the wall. Bowser sat at the head of the center table with all of his children to the right, seated according to age, save for Wendy who sat next to Alexander who was seated to Bowser's left. Clawdia was seated between them in a booster seat.

The feast was still being prepared and Alexander also noticed that the queen was nowhere to be seen, though he had a feeling Bowser wanted to drop that bombshell on everyone himself. Wario and Waluigi were seated next to Wendy, with the Brothers and the princesses beside them. At the very end Minister Toadsworth had appeared from somewhere. Taking this opportunity to chat Alexander leaned forward looking to Wario, "So is it true what I hear, that you're Mario's cousin?"

"By his mother's sister," Wario said.

"So you were born in Brooklyn as well?"

"Staten Island, you?"

"The Bronx. If I might ask, how did you come to Mushroom World in the first place?"

"The same way pinhead over there did," he said, thumbing towards Mario, "about a week after he went missing Waluigi and I went looking for him, ended up finding the same warp pipe he had come through."

"Is Waluigi your brother?"

"Cousin, by Mario's uncle on his father's side."

About to ask another question Alexander noticed Waluigi glaring at him like he wanted to rip his head off, "What's his problem?" he asked in a low tone, leaning towards Wendy.

"He's sweet on Princess Daisy," Wendy replied with a whisper.

"So is Wario sweet on Peach?"

"Hookers."

With a rather odd expression Alexander sat back up and kept to himself after that. There was a lot of low conversation in the room as a number of other koopa and mushroom nobles filled the two remaining table. About a half hour later servants appeared with trays, placing them on the tables they continued until all three tables were filled end to end with almost every type of food someone could imagine. Once the banquet was ready to begin a hooded figure in a brown robe walked into the room, silently making their way to the head of the table next to Bowser. Alexander knew who it was and smirked to himself as Clawdia stood next to the only empty seat left. "I'm sure many of you wonder why I've held this banquet during such dark times as these. This banquet is in honor of the person standing next to me," Bowser said, raising his arms. In an almost practiced manner Clawdia reached up lowering her hood, "the return of Queen Clawdia Koopa."

There was a hush that came over the room of such magnitude that a fly cutting a fart could be heard, then one of the mushroom nobles fainted, hitting the floor with a thud. After the silence broke and Clawdia sat down next to Bowser the room nearly exploded in a buzz of conversations over her return. Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, the Brothers, along with nearly everyone else in the room stared at her for a long time without speaking to one another. "Let the feasting begin!" Bowser said. The House of Koopa wasted no time in serving themselves, but unlike other meals where they ate with zero table manners, in front of others they used silverware for everything, eating in a delicate and practiced fashion. Numerous people asked Clawdia a wide variety of questions, mostly about how she had returned from the dead, but she refused to answer questions regarding anything of the like.

Alexander was getting a real kick out of the entire situation. the banquet lasted for over two hours, once desert had been served and things finally began to die down, Bowser rose from his seat. "Would everyone please follow me to the throne room." Now even Alexander was curious, he had no idea what Bowser was up to this time, nor did anyone else from the sound of it. The gathering of sixty people made their way through the castle to the throne room, koopa standing to the right of the red carpet leading to the throne, mushrooms on the left. With Clawdia by his side Bowser walked up the steps leading to the dais, upon reaching the top a hammer brother, holding a sword in front of him with both hands appeared from a side hall, in a very stiff and formal manner. He walked up the steps, stopping next to Bowser's left and facing those gathered in the throne room.

"Lord Magnus, step forward," Bowser said.

Now he was completely lost, what Bowser had up his proverbial sleeve was completely lost on the koopa lord... what had he fucked up this time, he wondered. Approaching the dais Alexander stood there with his eyes downcast, as looking the king in the eye during formal events was a big no-no. "Take a knee," Bowser said. As commanded Alexander took a knee, Bowser took the sword from the hammer brother, moving down the steps he stopped directly in front of the koopa lord. "Today, I dub you Prince Alexander Franklin Magnus. This sword represents: Valor – strength of mind and spirit, which enables a one to remain steadfast in the face of danger with firmness and bravery. It represents heroism. No matter what the day and age, the one who stands for and is willing even to die for the throne, the people of this land, or a cause greater than himself has valor.

This valor is the essence of the House of Koopa – the essence of royalty, when one realizes that his life is not his own, but a life in service to his people. That whatever the personal cost, as one has been called by the throne to lead, to guide, to protect and provide for another. You have been called to one woman to which you have committed your life to the sanctity of marriage.

You have been called to a family to which you will live for to lead, guide, provide for and protect from the world, and any threat that may present itself. With that being said, for acts of bravery and heroism above and beyond your station, for the return of my dearest Clawdia I grant you the title of prince along with all of the responsibilities and duties contained therein," touching the sword to each of Alexander's shoulders he motioned for him to stand, "arise and go forth Prince Magnus."

When Alexander stood up and turned to face those in the throne room there was a loud applause, from the koopa side of the room. The mushroom people were predictably silent. Striking as a pose as regal as possible the newly appointed prince held his head high, puffing his chest out as far as possible. He strode down the aisle as the gathering disbanded, as he moved Wendy came up next to him sliding her hand into his, "Way to go sweety, you're really moving up in the world." CW celebrating by running into the hall and repeatedly yelling 'yay!' As it was already getting late in the evening Alexander and Wendy decided to retire to their room for the evening. Word of Alexander's new title spread through the castle like wildfire, on the way to his room the koopa guards and servants made it a point to stop and bow to him as a show of respect.

CW was already in their room playing with some of her toys when Alexander and Wendy arrived. They sat down next to one another on the bed, without any words being exchanged Wendy leaned over and began to kiss Alexander on the neck. With a low, but content growl he slid his arm around his wife and let her continue to kiss his neck and shoulders. "CW, go your room," Alexander said. She looked back for a moment then let out a loud raspberry, "You're gonna do all that kissy cuddly stuff again." After she had gone to her room and closed the door behind her Alexander chuckled a little, "Cuddling, never heard it called that before." Wendy's only response was to growl and push her husband down onto the bed.

The next morning Alexander woke early, dressed himself, and walked to the door of his room. Opening it he looked to the turtle guards standing outside, "You," he said, looking to the left, "send word that I'm convening a war council, I have vital information on the situation at hand." He then looked to the guard on the right, "Summon my daughter's nanny." Finished with that he closed the door, walking back over to the bed he shook Wendy gently. She grunted a few times, looking up she blinked, still partially asleep. "Wake up Wendy, I've convened a war council." With a low growl, mostly subconscious, she sat up. Once Alexander's words had sunken in Wendy got out of bed and started to slowly dress herself as well. They both left for the council Alexander had called, as they moved out into the hallway several of Wendy's brothers were also making their way out of their rooms.

By the time Alexander and Wendy reached the war room everyone else was gathered, Bowser, Clawdia, Peach, Daisy, the Brothers, Wario, Waluigi, and a number of generals. Wasting no time the newly appointed prince made his way to the head of the table next to Bowser, "Thank you for responding to my summons so quickly. As I said I have vital information regarding the situation at hand." Removing the box and lid from his pocket Alexander placed them on the table, he waited for everyone to look it over before continuing. "This is a box Wendy and I discovered on an uninhabited island during our honeymoon, not knowing what was contained within... I opened it."

"What was inside this box?" Waluigi asked.

"Not what, who. During my little three day... excursion, I had a language expert decipher the writing inside the box. According to what he told me it was created as a prison for a being named Delivox, mistress of time and space, and apparently incredibly evil."

"Why do people keep imprisoning these things, why not just kill the bitch?" Wario asked.

"Because from what I learned, they couldn't, imprisoning her was their last recourse."

"What does this have to do with my father?" Bowser asked.

"I don't think it's your father doing this, not entirely anyway. When I first opened the box there was only a flash of light and then nothing. At first I thought it was nothing, it was later that I realized I had in fact released Delivox from her imprisionment. I think Morton has been possessed by her."

"That would explain how he became such a powerful caster, father never was much of magic user. Then there's the matter of the magic he's using isn't koopa of mushroom in origin."

"So how do we deal with this situation?" Peach asked.

"There are a number of magical incantations inside the box, I think they're meant to either contain her, or her power. I'm not sure what they do though, and there's about a half dozen of them.

"Do you have a copy of the incantations?" Peach asked. Alexander took the small sheet of paper from his pocket, tossing it across the table to the princess. Peach took the paper and unfolded it, reading over the translation, along with Wario and Mario who were on either side of her.

"Can you make any sense of it princess?" Bowser asked.

"Not off the top of my head, but I do recognize some of the incantation styles. If you could give me a copy to study I might be able to figure out what these mean." Instead of tossing the paper back, Peach handed it to Mario who passed it along until it was in Alexander's possession again.

"Where is Morton at the moment?" Alexander asked.

"Conquering the last remaining settlements in Sarasaland," Daisy said, with a raspy tone to her voice.

"What do we know about the Beanbean Kingdom, there are two remaining targets, any idea where he'll attack next?" Alexander asked.

"We anticipate that Morton will attempt to conquer the Beanbean Kingdom next. Our military was able to repel his initial invasion before his ranks swelled as much as they have. Beanbean is closer and an easier mark," Bowser said, "In light of the situation at hand Queen Bean, along with Peach, Daisy, and I, have agreed to join what forces we have left to make a last stand effort to defeat Morton's army."

"Last stand?" Alexander asked.

"Yes, you are familiar with the fact that anyone who falls to Morton's soldiers becomes one?" Ludwig asked.

"Yes, I know that much." Alexander said.

"He's already conquered the Kingdom, and by tomorrow Sarasaland should be finished as well, If he's managed to convert the entire population of both kingdoms, that will give him a military force of nearly a quarter of a million soldiers. The largest army ever fielded in this world." Ludwig said.

"Fuck..." Alexander said.

"We've deployed scouts to monitor Morton's movements, as soon as we determine where he's going next the Koopa and Beanbean kingdoms will join forces to stand against him," Bowser said.

"How the hell can we stand up against an army of that size? The Dark Lands only has a military force of what, ten-thousand?" Alexander said.

"As soon as I realized what was happening I sent out a draft notice, anyone ages sixteen to sixty capable of carrying a weapon is now part of the military. That was two days ago, our forces should be ready to move in time." Bowser said.

Leaning forward Alexander looked to Ludwig, "Estimates?"

"Without an exact headcount my best guess would be between one-hundred to one-hundred twenty thousand," Ludwig said.

"I passed the same suggestion along to Queen Bean, but of the four powers here in Mushroom World, hers is the kingdom with the smallest population. Roughly fifty-thousand," Bowser said.

Finally realizing the magnitude of the situation at hand, Alexander sighed heavily, "Let's stop mincing words here people, realistically do we have a snowball's chance in hell of winning?"

"Against an army of that size, no. The military action is only a stopgap measure, we have to take down this Morton/Delivox. Hopefully once that situation is dealt with whatever spell she's using to corrupt the people will fade," Bowser said.

"And if it doesn't?" Wario asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Bowser Jr said.

"Peach, Wendy, Clawdia, you're with me," Bowser said, "I'll call every mage in the castle together to help us try and decipher the meaning of these spells Alexander had translated." Now that the meeting was dismissed Bowser, Wendy, Peach, and Clawdia made their way towards the door after collecting the translation, the lock released when Bowser snapped his fingers. Everyone else filtered out of the room slowly, as Alexander hadn't been assigned a specific duty he decided to use what little free time he had to be with his daughter. It didn't take him long to make it back to his room where CW and her nanny, a middle aged turtle woman named Ghamma, were sitting on the bed playing checkers.

"Hi daddy!" CW waved, as he entered the room. He walked over and sat down on the bed quietly watching them play. He noticed that Ghamma passed up the chance to take a number of CW's checkers, intentionally letting her win in the end. "Come'er baby girl," Alexander said, placing CW on his lap. Alexander was quickly hugged by his daughter who was always happy to see him, he was actually surprised at how cheerful she was most of the time. "Whatcha been up to?" Alexander asked.

"I won at checkers."

"I saw that."

"Are you going off to fight again?"

Even though Alexander wasn't fond of talking to Clawdia about his duties to Bowser, he also didn't cut corners with her. Sugar-coating the truth and mincing words weren't something a princess could afford, CW was already attending a very prestigious school that included royal protocol in its curriculum. There was also the fact he considered most of the modern public on Earth a bunch of pussies that always tried to make things sound simpler than they actually were. "Yes," was his only response.

"You're going to fight great-grampa Morton?"

"How did you know that?"

"I heard soldiers talking."

"Yes sweety, I'm going off to help Grandpa Bowser fight Great-grandpa Morton."

"Why?"

"Because he's hurting and killing a lot of people."

"You hurt and kill people."

"Only those that get in the way of Grandpa Bowser when he tries to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. Great-grandpa Morton is hurting everyone he can, so we're going to try to make him stop."

"Can't you just ask real nice?"

Alexander chuckled a little, "If only it were that simple, you'll understand when you're older. Now, how about we play a game... or something."

"Can Ghamma play too?"

"I don't see why not."

Alexander spent most of the morning with CW, playing games, reading stories, or just watching television since she wanted him to see her favorite cartoons. It was close to noon time when the 'Happy Turtle Show' show went off, Alexander was about to say something to CW when he noticed she had dozed off. Ghamma leaned over, speaking in a low voice, "She normally takes a nap about this time every day." With a small nod Alexander carefully got up, replacing his side she was using for a pillow with the real thing, then pulled the covers over her. Looking down at his daughter Alexander watched her, her chest slowly rising and falling, the sound of her shallow breathing. He brushed her hair gently with his hand and smiled broadly, she was one of the few people who could bring a smile to his face without effort.

Even though he had enjoyed his time with CW he needed to see what could be done to help with the preparations for battle. If they were arming every person capable of carrying a weapon, then it would be a massive undertaking unlike anything yet seen by Mushroom World. For all intents and purposes... this was a world war. Despite his repeated attacks against the Kingdom he wanted to conquer it, not destroy it, there's little point to overthrowing a kingdom if there's no one left to rule over. He also knew CW would be as safe as possible, ever since she had been kidnapped Bowser had assigned ten of his most elite soldiers to protect her at all times. If the worst happened and the royal family didn't come back... they had orders to evacuate her to Earth. There was a wizard in the group capable of disguising them, so it put Alexander at ease to know his little girl would be safe.

After taking his one remaining sword, Alexander closed the door carefully behind him so as to not wake his daughter, making his way back down to the main part of the castle he stopped, hearing something that caught his attention. It was the sound of feet marching, not hundreds, or thousands, but tens of thousands upon thousands. Taking a few more steps to a window along the spiral staircase of the tower he was in he looked out to see soldiers gathering outside Bowseria. Even though he couldn't see great details at this distance he knew how they were forming up, twenty by twenty columns used for larger formations. The columns were five rows deep and spanned almost as far as the eye could see from east to west. This wasn't what Alexander wanted, there was a difference between war and... this. This wasn't war, soon it would be the wholesale slaughter of almost every living thing in Mushroom World.

With a small sigh he continued on down the stairs making his way to the throne room, the likeliest place to locate a member of the royal family. There were no members of the royal family in the throne room, as he turned to leave he ran into someone and it took him a moment to realize it was Wendy. "Babe, where is everyone?"

"Mobilizing, we're about to march."

"Now?"

"Yes now, the scouts reported that Morton isn't headed for the Beanbean Kingdom, he coming here."

"When will he get here?"

"They're marching through Sarasaland right now, they'll be here by evening."

This was what Alexander was dreading, he wasn't afraid to face Morton, but he wasn't eager to engage in the outright annihilation of most of Mushroom World. More than anything it weighed the heaviest on his mind that this was all his fault... if he hadn't opened that damned box... No one had blamed him for what was happening, but he couldn't help blame himself. His actions were unintentional, but never the less, they were his actions and his alone. He had to find a way to make this right, to undo the damage he had done. He followed Wendy out of the castle, he was about to start walking when Wendy grabbed his shoulder. Before he knew what was happening their feet rose a few inches off the ground and they took off through the streets of Bowseria with tremendous speed.

As they passed through the city Alexander noticed that the normally bustle city streets were now all but deserted. Not long after exiting the city they began to slow down as they moved through the columns of soldiers, finally coming to a stop a few yards from the front lines. Alexander was about to ask Wendy why she didn't do that more often, when he looked over at her he got his answer. She was leaning forward resting her hands on her knees and breathing heavily, apparently high speed levitation was taxing even when used briefly. Once she had caught her breath enough to move they both made their way to the front lines. There Alexander could see everyone gathered at the forefront of the army, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, and all eight of his children.

With Wendy to his left and Peach to his right, he leaned over speaking to Peach, "So did you managed to figure out what the hell those spells did?"

"Yes," Peach said, nodding briefly.

When the army was ready to move out Bowser tilted his head back, breathing a large sheet of fire into the air. Even though the vast majority of the army were little more than citizens with weapons, Alexander was surprised that they were able to keep formation so well, he only hoped they would be able to hold their own long enough to let them take out Morton/Delivox. Slowly the army began to move, more than one-hundred thousand marching in formation with a single goal in mind... living to see tomorrow.

(Ruthless Teaser: The next chapter is the last one)


	20. Chapter XIX

It was about two in the afternoon when the massive koopa army, augmented by the few survivors of Sarasaland and the Kingdom, began to move out. Normally it would have taken well over a day for the two armies to meet on the field of battle on foot, but with both marching towards one another, it was only a matter of time before they met. Despite the relentless sound of soldiers marching through the land, there was an eerie silence. When the koopa army marched they were often given a cheerful farewell by the towns they passed, but today, those that once greeted them... now marched with them. As the army passed Koopar near the southern border of the kingdom the columns split into two, moving around the now abandon city like water flowing through a river bed. Of those that were too young, too old, or crippled, most of them had taken refuge in Bowseria, banding together to try to find any sense of security they possibly could.

The cracked, dry landscape of the Dark Lands soon gave way as they marched, as did the perpetual cloud cover, to the lush, verdant green fields and blue skies of the Mushroom Kingdom. Almost an hour later Alexander could see Mushroomville in the far distance, it was a small town of no strategic value, so it went mostly unmolested during the various conflicts between the Houses of Toadstool and Koopa. It had come under consideration as a target when Alexander had suggested attacking Lilliona. Even though it was the town closest to the borders of the Dark Lands he had mentally rejected it as it was even smaller than Kooparia, had no port, and was little more than a grouping of about fifty homes. As the army approached the landscape began to change, instead of the lush, unbroken fields of grass one would expect to see, the land was marred. There were large patches of dirt and grass that had been ripped up, abandon equipment. It was easy to tell there had been a fight here, and from the look of the various things that had been dropped, the people had likely been set upon without warning.

The army once again parted as it moved around the town, many of the homes had windows that were shattered, doors that had been kicked in. On this rare occasion even Alexander felt pity for the mushroom people, he may not have liked them, but he wouldn't wish a horror like this on anyone. Mushroomville wasn't the only place where the ground was torn and trodden like this, small patches of grass, and overturned vehicles near the roads they passed made it obvious that Morton's army had attacked anything it had encounter without reserve or hesitation. The more Alexander saw the angrier it made him, this land, the people within, should have belonged to Bowser, they should have been his to rule over, not mindless creatures in the service of some abomination.

"I... never meant for any of this to happen, I wanted to conquer this land, not destroy it," Alexander said, looking to Peach.

"I know, I don't blame you... for this."

For much of the afternoon they continued to walk in silence, looking at the devastation that had been brought upon the Kingdom by Morton and his twisted army of creatures. They must have swept across the land like a plague, Alexander though to himself. About half way into their journey through the Kingdom, Bowser called for the army to halt after speaking briefly with a ninji scout. Without a word he waited, looking to the horizon in the west. No one else knew what was going on until a message started to echo through the ranks of the soldiers, "The Beanish army approaches from the west!" Soon Alexander and the others could see them approaching, when they drew closer he could see Queen Bean and her son Prince Peasley. He hadn't met either of them personally, but he could see the rumors about Queen Bean weren't exaggerations. She was as wide as she was tall, dressed in a solid orange dress with bright purple hair, and a crown, she was a walking fashion nightmare. The fact that she had a son meant that Peasley's father had... Alexander shuddered briefly, quickly casting the thought aside.

After they had approached to a certain distance Queen Bean stopped and made a motion with her arm up over her head, one of the officers in the beanish army barked an order that was echoed a few times. The entire beanish army faced the koopa, as they marched forward the koopa parted allowing the beanish soldiers to be absorbed into their ranks. Once that was complete the queen and her son approached Bowser, she nodded her head slightly, "As promised King Koopa, the beanish people will stand with you against this threat." Bowser nodded, allowing her and Peasley to take their places at the head of the army with everyone else. Once they were under way again Alexander wondered how much of a difference the beanish army would make, from what he could see they were barely a third of the strength of the koopa army. Under the circumstances though he wasn't about to begrudge help, regardless of how large or small it might be.

It was approaching evening time when Bowser called a halt once more, the sound of the ocean was barely audible in the distance. When motioned at ease, the army as a whole sat down, resting themselves to regain what strength they could before the battle to come. At this point the commanders began dividing up into small groups, Peach, Daisy, and the Brothers, Bowser and his kids, they all broke off into small groups, talking amongst themselves. Alexander on the other hand sat off by himself, still angry over his part in all of this. Right now he was content to brood over this alone, though it was not to be. About five minutes after he sat down indian style on the grass, Princess Peach knelt down in front of him. He glanced up at the princess for a moment before returning to his thoughts, or at least trying. Having Peach sitting there staring at him was a little unnerving.

"Something I can help you with Princess?" Alexander asked, after he couldn't stand it anymore.

"I was just trying to understand you."

"Excuse me?"

"No one can deny in the time that you've been here in Mushroom World you've made quite a name for yourself. What I can't understand is why you chose to ally yourself with King Koopa."

"What, instead of you?"

"Among other options."

"Because King Koopa gave me what I never could have achieved on Earth, power, prestige, and privilege. My people respect me, my enemies fear me."

"You could have accomplished those things here."

"Yes, but Wendy gave me love, and a family. Power, prestige, and privilege are now secondary to providing a future for my daughter."

"You would give her a future of war and conflict?"

"Not at all," Alexander said, smirking slightly, "we won't be at war forever."

"It's a shame you've chosen this path in life Prince Magnus. For all your bravado and bluster I know there is a good man in there, or at least there was at one time. You could have saved lives rather than take them."

That remark hit a little closer to home than Peach realized, when he had first arrived in Mushroom World he had nearly asked Peach for asylum and protection from Bowser. It also reminded him of the first dimension he had arrived in, the world where he was in fact married to Peach, "Perhaps..." Alexander said, rising from where he was sitting he started to walk away, pausing briefly he looked back over his shoulder, "perhaps in another life we could have been allies... but not this one..." As he approached Bowser and the others, Wendy walked over with a suspicious look on her face, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Just the princess prattling on about pointless bullshit, nothing important," with a small sigh he looked up at Wendy, "do you blame me for this?"

"What? No, you had no way of knowing what was in that box, if anything I'm as culpable as you are. I told you to open it after all. Don't worry babe, we'll find a way to make this right again."

"I sure hope so."

For almost an hour they waited, and rested, until a lakitu scout came flying down towards them at high speed, "They're here, they're here!" Alexander quickly began looking around as the entire army came alive upon hearing this. "Where? I don't see any ships."

"They don't use ships," Daisy said, walking up next to Alexander.

He was about to ask what she meant when he saw the answer, in the distance a small figure began walking out of the ocean onto the beach, soon after that everyone watched in shock as the army of the damned rose from the ocean behind Morton. Row upon row, upon row, from horizon to horizon as far as the eye could see. The gnarled and mangled bodies of those that had come under Morton's control shambled along in an almost lifeless fashion, even though something within them was still alive. Just as before the enemy didn't form ranks or columns, they lumbering along in large interconnected masses that seemed to move with a singular will. By the time the army came to a stop they were less than one-hundred yards away, now Alexander could see that were vastly outnumbered, three, maybe four to one. "Just like when they invaded Sarasaland," Daisy said.

At the forefront of the enemy Morton stood there, glaring at Bowser with glowing orange eyes. "Give up my boy, you don't stand a chance. Why make this harder on yourself than you have to," Morton said, in a deep, flanged voice. "You can drop the act, I know who you are," Bowser said.

"Do you now?"

At first Alexander thought this was pointless bravado as the two of them walked forward, threatening and insulting one another until he noticed Peach speaking rapidly, in a low tone. He couldn't understand what she was saying until he realized she was chanting a mantra. When she finished she looked over at Morton, but nothing happened, she tried reciting the mantra again, with no apparent effect. Trying not to draw attention to himself he walked over to where Peach was standing, "What's wrong, why isn't it working?"

"I... I don't know."

"Are you reciting it properly?"

"I know how to recite a mantra, I've been practicing magic since I was a child."

Peach tried speaking the mantra one last time, almost subconsciously Alexander mimiced several parts of it with her, as he did he could feel the box in his shell start to crackle with energy. In that instant Morton's attention focused on him causing Alexander to jump back slightly. He was glad he had an almost perfect memory and ability to recall things, because he thought he had just figured out what was wrong with Peach chanting the mantra. Morton was about to say something when Alexander blurted out, "Taga-vo-decha-ven-tintalimec-ragafet!" He felt the box discharge a burst of energy from within his shell, when it did Morton's eyes widened and he doubled over like Bowser had just gut punched him. On his knees with his hands on the ground Morton's head rose up and he let out a loud roar that sounded like it had a female undertone to it.

The snarling continued as Morton stood up once more, seemingly wracked with pain he continued to growl and snarl. Within a matter of moments it looked as through another figure were trying to grow out of the side of his head. "Get... out of me!" Morton snarled. Without hesitation Bowser walked up to Morton and grabbed the second figure by the head, literally ripping her out of his father's body his hands twisted, then he cast the second figure aside. She landing stomach first with her face looking at the sky, it was obvious to see Bowser had snapped her neck. Everyone waited and watched breathlessly, then to everyone's shock and disbelief the figure began to stand up. As Bowser and his father began to slowly back away she placed her hands on her head, twisting it back into the proper position.

This was the first time anyone had seen what Delivox truly looked like, it was indeed a woman. Of average height and build, those were the only things about her that were. Her skin was a bright red in color, she had cloven hooves in place of feet, leathery black wings, and a long tail that came to a point at the end. Despite this odd appearance she was strikingly attactive, with short, slicked back black hair, and a slender nose that sat between a pair of large, glowing orange eyes. Her lips were black as well, but what caught Alexander's attention were the black leather boots she was wearing, mostly because it was all she was wearing. Once she had recovered herself she looked over at Alexander once more, regardless of how attractive she was the look in her eyes was anything but inviting, in fact she looked like she wanted to rip him to pieces.

"I'll take care of these pathetic fleshlings myself, kill the rest," Delivox said.

Just like that her followers let out an almost unholy howl, surging forward en-mass, though oddly enough they seemed to form a small circle around Delivox, Alexander, and everyone else as they slammed into the koopa army with a thunderous clap. "So it was you who released me from my prison, for this I shall reward you by killing you last."

"Gee... thanks," Alexander said.

Peach handed Alexander a small piece of paper she had taken from under one of her gloves, when she began to chant another mantra to cast a spell, the only thing he saw was Delivox as she turned into a red blur. Before anyone even had time to realize what was happening she was in front of Peach, with a a right hook she hit the princess in the jaw hard enough to knock her into Alexander sending the both of them crashing to the ground. Alexander flipped over onto his stomach and watched as all eight of Bowser's children tried to attack her at once, using both fists and magic. As before she moved with such speed it was impossible to follow her while until she had stopped. Each time she struck one of the koopalings the sheer force behind her blows dropped them, leaving them to writhe in agony on the ground, even Roy was leveled by a single clothesline.

Next she appeared in front of Bowser, when she swung at his stomach he raised his right arm with his palm facing out. There was a loud shattering sound as Delivox punched through what appeared to be some sort of magical shield, the impact of her attack was enough to send Bowser staggering backwards before even he fell to the ground. "Fuck me running, and I thought alternate Mario was a dick." When Alexander unfolded the piece of paper and looked at it, he saw the six mantras written down on it, he started to try an recite the second one, before he had even gotten two words out of his mouth a black leather boot struck him in the face. He blacked out briefly as he went twirling through the air, the force of impact jarring him enough to wake him as he landed. "Natch," Alexander groaned. As he began to sit up he saw something else come flying at him, this time it was Wario. The rather twisted version of Mario slammed into Alexander, his bulk flattening the young man and sinking his shell partly into the ground in the process. Wario stood up quickly, then yanked Alexander to his feet even though he was still slightly dazed. "How are we suppose to fight someone we can't even lay a hand on," Wario growled. When Alexander's head cleared he saw that everyone else was sprawled across the ground, or in the process of slowly getting back up. Wario wasn't kidding, no one had laid a hand on Delivox... she was just too fast.

When Alexander tried to recite the mantra a second time, she appeared in front of him, kicking him in the side, once again sending him flying, a few seconds later he heard Wario grunt and hit the ground as well. For a second time he was yanked to his feet, this time it was by Bowser. He half expected Bowser to try some sort of attack of his own, instead he was standing there, watching Delivox dash back and forth across the small circle the were in. She attacked Peach, Waluigi, Mario, and Daisy, moving with such speed none of them had time to react before being struck down. Near the other side of the clearing Roy was slowly getting up from his second pummeling. He was about to charge after Delivox again when something caught his attention and he looked towards Bowser. Alexander looked down to see him making a series of quick signals with his hand, Roy in turn nodded. Instead of resorting to physical attacks Roy drew his wand from his shell and began casting a spell. Just as with the others, Delivox appeared in front of Roy, with her back to Alexander and Bowser.

Hunching down Bowser said, "Start chanting," then leapt high into the air. He had no idea what Bowser was up to, but at a time like this he wasn't about to question his orders. He did as he was told, after Delivox had flattened Roy for a third time she turned her attention to him. With the same speed she had used until now she appeared in front of him, drawing her fist back she was about to attack when Bowser landed on top of her hard enough to drive her into the ground face first. Bowser drew his arm back to punch, only to have her disappear in a small flash of blue light an instant before the blow landed. She reappeared behind him some distance away and took off like a shot again. In that moment Alexander was able to blurt out, "Tenchar-deca-vrana-horil-yol."

In response Delivox seemed to drop out of warp a few feet short of Bowser and staggered forward off balance. She looked up at him just long enough to get an uppercut to the jaw that knocked her back and sent her sliding across the ground. Now Alexander knew why Delivox had been so intent on stopping him from chanting, the mantras were designed to strip her of her power. Normally a full force uppercut from Bowser would have killed just about anyone, Delivox on the other hand merely kicked her legs out flipping into a kneeling position like nothing was wrong. Spreading her wings she let out a loud growl, this time she walked forward without running, or dashing. Alexander watched as Bowser took a deep breath before cutting loose with a tremendous sheet of flame that exploded across the field. It engulfed Delivox immediately, when the flames died down and the smoke cleared she was standing directly in front of him without a mark on her body, aside from the steam rising from her skin.

This time instead of attacking physically she waved her hand out in front of her in a broad arcing motion, as she did the air appeared to ripple before Bowser, Alexander, Daisy, and Queen Bean hurling them back like rag dolls. "You dare to challenge me, a goddess? You pathetic little mortals have tried my patients long enough, it is time to end this little game." Delivox held her right hand out, a small beam of blue energy roughly four feet in length extended from her palm. It quickly expanded, then faded, leaving a pure black longsword with a wickedly curved blade appearing in her hand. "Oh shit..." Alexander said. He watched Waluigi run up and try to kick Delivox in the stomach, she responded by swinging the sword in a downward arc severing his leg above the knee. Next she spun around bringing the blade across his next as he fell backward nearly decapitating him in the process. "Waluigi," Wario yelled, "you bitch, I'll fucking kill you!"

As Wario charged forward in a blind rage Luigi fell into step beside him. When she swung her sword for a second time in a downward arc, Luigi caught the blade with his left hand, the sword sliced through the cybernetic hand, but it was still enough to throw off her attack. Before she had time to react Wario had already tackled her to the ground and was pounding her face with repeated punches, Luigi merely cast her sword aside without a second thought. Despite the onslaught of punches she was suffering she wrapped her legs around Wario from behind and hurled him off of her. Flipping to her feet for a second time Alexander took the initiative now, instead of trying to use punches or kicks she drew the sword he had brought with him. Just as Delivox rose to her feet he lunged forward driving the blade into the center of her chest, just as he had to the other version of Princess Peach. Instead of looking shocked or injured, Delivox just glared at Alexander. "You have got to be fucking kidding me," Alexander said.

Instead of trying to rip the sword out of her he let it go, ducking into a backwards roll as she tried backhand him. Grabbing the sword by the handle she ripped it out of her chest, the wound closing without incident, and began to close in on Alexander. From the left Morton Jr leapt at Delivox with his hands raised over his head to attack, with a single casual swing of the sword he fell to the ground, split in half at the waist. For possibly the first time in the life since coming to Mushroom World Alexander was truly afraid. He was afraid because he and his weren't just losing, they were dying. Next Luigi ran forward hurling his magic laced fireballs at Delivox with his one good hand, though they had about the same effect as Bowser's fire, once he had closed the distance between them he tried smashing his cybernetic arm in her head. She caught his arm without effort and drove the sword through his chest. Kicking him off the blade she spun in a full circle splitting Wario open from waist to shoulder as he tried to attack her from behind.

Next Clawdia hit her with a spell hard enough to make her take a step sideways to regain her balance, despite the lack of any apparent damage, she held her hand towards Clawdia unleashing a massive burst of red energy. Before the attack struck its mark, Bowser, who was standing beside Clawdia, stepped in front of the blast turning his shell to it. The explosion that ensued was followed by green debris flying through the air. At first Alexander feared the worst, but when the smoke cleared he could see the attack had only destroyed Bowser's shell. He was laying on the ground, although he didn't appear to be injured he wasn't moving, nor was Clawdia who's lower body was pinned underneath him. In a near panic Alexander tried to recite the third mantra so fast he started to stutter. Now seemingly towering over Alexander who was still sitting on the ground she extended her hand towards him. Much like the alternate version of Peach had done, an invisible force wrapped around his neck choking off his ability to speak.

"Fool, there is no mortal weapon or magic that can harm me. I was going to kill you last, but since you insist on trying to chant those accursed mantras, it's looks like I'm going to have to break that promise."

As she raised the sword over her head Alexander was so focused on Delivox he didn't see Princess Peach walking up behind her. He only realized she was there after the black blade of Delivox's own sword ripped through her stomach from behind. This time she let out a loud gasp as a look of shock spread over her face. Unlike the wound Alexander had inflicted with his sword, this one caused a spray of blue blood to splash across his face. When Peach ripped the sword out of Delivox, she collapsed to her knees, looking down at the wound that wouldn't heal. Tears were streaming down Peach's face as she walked around beside Delivox, raising the sword in both hands for a second time she looked down. They both exchanged looks before Peach swung for a second time and Delivox's head was separated from her shoulders and sent rolling across the clearing. Peach immediately dropped the sword and collapsed to her knees, burying her face in her hands she started to weep uncontrollably. The moment Delivox was killed, the army of the damned at her command let out a loud, collective shriek, collapsing to the ground all around them. Even though Peach was Alexander's sworn enemy, and someone he had vowed to overthrow no matter the cost to her Kingdom, no one moved to stop him when he walked over to her. Kneeling down he put his arms around Peach and she buried her face in his chest.

Helping her to her feet carefully he looked at the battlefield around them, there were bodies gnarled, koopa, and beanish sprawled across the ground as far as the eye could see. In the heat of battle n one had realized that the army itself had nearly been vanquished, the only ones left standing were, Alexander guessed, about one-thousand turtle soldiers. "We did it, we won..." Wendy said, in an almost hollow manner as she walked up next to her husband. "Did we?" Alexander said. Of those that had fought Delivox, four of them had lost their lives today, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Morton Jr. "Why aren't they changing back?" Peach asked, looking up from her crying. Ludwig was already inspecting one of the bodies, everyone looked to him waiting for an answer. When he finally stood up he turned to face everyone, "They're not changing back because they're dead, they have been for some time now."

"Then... how were they... able to fight," Bowser said, slowly pushing himself up off the ground.

"I couldn't tell you without performing an autopsy, but at a guess I'd say they were killed before they changed. Whatever Delivox was using to control them must have kept their bodies functioning so they could do her bidding."

"So we did all this for nothing?" Alexander said, letting go of Peach, "we fought, and bleed, and died, for nothing?"

"We survived," Mario said.

"Survived for what, this?" Alexander said, holding his arms out, "look around you Mario. Take a good look because aside from those soldiers standing over there, and the people who couldn't fight, we may well be the only survivors. The mushroom people, Daisy's people, the hammer, goomba, and koopa species, there aren't enough left to maintain a gene pool, they're effectively extinct! We may have killed Delivox but that a good look people, we lost!"

On the verge of emotionally collapsing he looked to Wendy and Peach who were still standing next to one another, "You may not blame me for this, but I blame me, how could I not. Intentional or otherwise, this is my fault... it's all my fault. God help me... what have I done..." Coming up behind Alexander, Bowser placed his hand on his shoulder, "There's still hope." When he looked back he saw Bowser holding what looked like a piece of an invincibility star, only it was larger with a rounded tip. As he did, Peach, Daisy, and Queen Bean gathered around, each producing another piece of the star. "What it this?" Alexander asked.

"It's called the Bean Star, it's the most powerful relic ever found in Mushroom World, capable of granting wishes. It was discovered in the ruins of a beanish city almost three-hundred years ago," Bowser said.

"Then how did all of you get a piece of it?" Alexander asked.

"Because one of my ancestors used the Bean Star, she wished for immortality," Queen Bean said.

"What happened?" Alexander asked.

"She was turned to stone. After that, and when the other major powers of Mushroom World discovered what had happened, it was decided the Bean Star was too dangerous to ever be kept by a single person. So it was divided, one piece being given to each of the four royal houses for safe keeping. That way it couldn't be used unless they all agreed," Daisy said.

"Indeed," Bowser said, "but of the four of us, there is only one who can use the Bean Star."

Alexander watched as all four pieces were handed to Princess Peach, who carefully assembled each of them. Once the Bean Star was complete it began to shine with an incredible brightness. "Please Princess, undo this... please. Make it so that I never opened that damned box," Alexander said. For what seemed to be an eternity Peach stood there looking down at the Bean Star she held in her hands. When she finally did move again she looked up, directly at Alexander. "I wish..." she began slowly, "Prince Magnus had never come to Mushroom World." Instead of exploding into a rage as he normally did, Alexander looked as Peach as the Bean Star began to shine with a blinding brilliance, "I'll kill you for this."

"No, you won't," Peach said, then the world disappeared in a wash of golden light.


End file.
